Arctic Wolf
by Rose Colored Philosophies
Summary: Honestly, he had expected the Yetis, seeing as he had retired to the Snowpeak Mountains, but, for the life of him, he couldn't understand how he also ended up with young Great Fairies, a lively phantom, a Fierce mask, a stern mountain woman, a fish nut, blade souls, four royals, and even his own living shadow in and out of his home. The Goddesses were laughing at him. He knew it.
1. In Which a Hero Moves so He can Retire

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. I'm merely using them to entertain myself and others.**

* * *

 **Arctic Wolf**

Chapter 1

 _In Which a Hero Moves so he can Retire_

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He could honestly admit that he wasn't quite sure what he had been thinking when he had made this decision, but even now as he looked at the cold white snowy mountains before him, he couldn't really call it a _bad_ idea. Perhaps an incredible cold and unusual idea but not _bad_. There were really a lot worse of places to decide to reside in, like Oocca or the Sacred Woods, the Snowpeak Mountains was merely the harshest of Hyrulian environments.

As a cold gust a wind swept through the area before him causing some snow on a lesser cliff to crumple onto the area below it like a white all encompassing blanket of freezing death, Link mildly wondered if that old lady Impaz wouldn't mind if he decided to live there instead. He shook his head. No. Way too many cats and the urge to chase them was definitely _still_ there. Perhaps only stronger now that Midna had returned home and his quest was over.

He glanced down at the new accessory he wore around his neck, still surprised at how Zelda- er, _Princess Zelda_ \- had been able to help him out with his dark stone. Truth was, he had journeyed about the lands of Hyrule mostly as a wolf instead of galloping on the back of Epona. It had been slower and more than exhausting at times, but he couldn't deny the way he felt- free. He didn't mind being a human, but he really didn't want to give up being a wolf either. With Midna gone, there was no one to help regulate the change between man and wolf, making Link worry for a while that he would be forever stuck as a man.

Midna had realized this, clever little imp that she was, and, before she had left through the mirror, she had apparently gone to Zelda about the issue. The two of them prepared him a gift imbued with both of their magic so that he could change between the two forms whenever he wished. He would almost sing Midna's praises and bless the Twili royalty had it not been for the fact that his _gift_ was rather… Midna like.

Okay, his new gift that helped him transform whenever he so deemed was a damn dog collar! One that he would probably never, _ever_ take off, so now he looked like he was someone's bitch- Midna's to be exact! Damn imp (he still called her such despite the curse being broken as old habits didn't break as easily as curses) probably planned it that way! It was no wonder she looked so upset when she broke the Twilight Mirror! She wouldn't get to see his face when Princess Zelda offered him his gift (which had even prim and proper _Zelda_ snickering at his expression as she held it out to him)!

Link growled a bit as he shook the memory free. He digressed. It was nice to have this gift instead of relying upon the dark crystal (the one imbued with the last remains of Ganondorf's dark magic) and his holy sword to make the change. He had already tested out the power of this new collar and grudgingly admitted the transformation _felt_ lighter, more cleansing than before. Hurt less too, though the pain had become something he had learned to ignore over the span of the year or so he had been galavanting about Hyrule trying to _save_ it.

The power would definitely be useful in this frozen land, which is why, out of all the placed he _could_ have chosen to relocate to, he chose this one. He and the Yetis had easily hit it off last time he had visited to make sure that Yeta was doing better and neither of them ever shied away with frightened screams when he approached as a wolf (though they didn't know it was him at the time and had debated _eating_ him). Yes, the Snowpeak Mountains were definitely the right choice, he decided as he continued his careful trek further into the land. His plan was simple, but effective. He would catch up with the Yetis, explain his move and see if they would give him temporary haven in their collapsing mansion as he built a home for himself close by and after explaining to them the whole 'wolf' thing (and don't eat the rare colored wolf if you _do_ go wolf hunting because that one is him), he wouldn't have to worry about them trying to make a meal of him.

The Yetis were a lot of things, but they were kind and welcoming to Link. They, themselves, were not human and thus they wouldn't judge him for things like other humans would, which was why he was moving up here.

Link frown as he shook free his darker and more unpleasant thoughts. The young ex-hero knew it was petty to be angry, but he had always thought that Ilia would chose him, not someone like Shad (though to be fair Shad was smart and, though a little awkward, kind and loyal. Good traits for a husband). So, since that door was closed, any of his reasons to really stay in Ordona Providence went right out the window. He couldn't go back to the same old life after everything that had happened and he was smart enough to know it.

He was too feral for the sleepy town and instead of getting himself in loads of trouble trying to hide it, he left to go live in a place where he didn't _have_ to. On top of that, if he was to be honest with himself, he was also slightly afraid that Zelda might do something odd, like give him command of something, which was a big 'no' in his book. So, despite how _irresponsible_ it sounded, the tired hero was also coming up here to be away from the rest of the world. He had taken precautions, seeing as he wasn't _stupid_ (just not as book smart as Shad), incase the kingdom went to shit and the people needed their recently retired hero to return. Lucky for him, Telma had a sweet spot for him and wouldn't peek at his instructions he had left with her if ever he was truly needed- and not for some pomp and circumstance shit.

He eventually came to a point where it would be safer to proceed for the next part of the trek as a wolf. He wasn't raised on a mountain and so his bearings as a human were much more limited than his bearings as a wolf. He allowed the change to happen by activating his collar's ability, in a way only known to him and him alone, and soon he was on all four and only his pack, which was not a fitted article of clothing upon his person, remained. Link, however, had been expecting that and he snaked himself between the straps of his custom made pack and soon it was on his back once more as his front legs were between the two straps that now fit him even as a wolf.

Feeling mighty proud of himself, he continued on his way, having memorized the way up the mountain to where the two Yetis lived. With any luck, they would accept him into their home for the time being while he built his own and wouldn't mind having a neighbor such as him.

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A/N: Okay, I can honestly say I was having a hell of a time trying to upload anything and then, because I was getting desperate, I was checking around the internet for a solution and, can you believe it, a sneaky son of a gun wrote a Twilight _FANFICTION_ as a round about way of getting the information to the people! Thank you **Addie W.** I may not like Twilight (of the Vampire variety, seeing as I am a huge Twilight Princess fan) anymore, but you have restored my faith in the fans... some of them- okay, you are awesome! Also, that's the only Twilight fan fiction I'll ever read.

Now, for anyone following my other stories- I am sorry. I am stuck in both of them and I realized half my problem is I write way too long of chapters- thus sucking me dry. So I am going to make these Zelda chapters a lot smaller and hope that it works better for me.

For those of you just reading some of my work, welcome to my brain, you are free to leave- if you can find the door. If you do, please leave detailed instructions for me on how to get out myself. I've been trying for years, but I am still trapped here.

Also, I have been reading some of the Zelda stories here for a while, and, while drama can be fun, I sometimes like a story a little bit slower and just sort of the 'after the shit went down' sort of stories. I have read ones that looked cute and adorable, but then turn dark and disheartening. Post-game stuff can be whatever you want, I guess, but I do realize people are taking Link's actions a little too seriously and even forget what sort of era he comes from. Link is a farmer. A _goatherd_. He lives in a village and that requires him to know a lot more than a townsperson in means of survival and even killing. I mean, we, as modern day folks, go to the store and buy our meat- they had to slaughter the cow or kill the chicken for that food. Death isn't foreign to him and I bet he had to kill a few monsters to protect the village, living where he has. So I'm not going too much into the idea of him suffering from PTSD and instead focus on more of the 'he's done with this shit but different, stupid shit follows him like they are his ducklings' sort of tale.

Lastly, there are so many characters going to be in this story if I get my way (so there are more than what four I'm allowed to post), so if there are any pairings, I haven't committed to them yet, but please forgive me, I will maybe do a Link and Ilia one later, but I also think her and Shad are cute and I wanted her out of the picture for this one.

Okay, that's my long rant. If you have questions, comments, please leave a review. I will get back to you accordingly. Also, if you want this story to continue, may I suggest reviewing? I write for me, but, at the same time, reviews are a writer's muse. Give me _actual_ feedback and I'll give you chapters much faster.

See you in the next chapter.

 _~Lore_

Rose Co **lore** d Philosophies


	2. In Which a Former Hero Rebuilds a Life

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. I'm merely using them to entertain myself and others.**

* * *

 **Arctic Wolf**

Chapter 2

 _In Which a Former Hero Rebuilds a Life_

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Yetis, as Link quickly learned, were a lot of things, but human concepts evaded them a bit. The fact that their dilapidated home was just about to fall apart around them was something way out of their league of understanding, seeing as it had been mostly in ruin when they had come across the place and realized that it was _way_ better than any cave they might find. However, it didn't mean they couldn't be taught. With a lot of prompting and having to restore an entire room back to useable condition, Link _finally_ convinced Yeto that his home could be a lot better and much safer/cozier for his wife and any possibly young the two of them might want.

Thus the next year of his life was instead spent entirely on restoring the old castle mansion instead of building his own home. Link was very grateful now that he had been raised as a farm boy. Yes, he was technically a goatherd by original profession, but when one lives in the rural lands like Ordon, things like how to make tools, do wood work, repair homes, raise barns, cut stones, blow glass, and even sewing were lessons and tasks done throughout their entire lives. Even young Talo _knew_ at least the _process_ of how to build a barn and to make floating glass panes for window frames. So Link was easily able to build. In fact, his father had been a carpenter (and a mason when the village had required him to be) and his mother had used the hair from the goats to spin wool and a loom to make cloth. He had learned from both of them until they had died from the same plague that had taken Ilia's mother.

Admittedly, Link did have to go down the mountain a few times a month to get things that he hadn't expected to need, such as more specific craftsman tools and other building materials he couldn't easily locate in the mountains, but when he did go down, he usually dealt directly with the young Zora prince. Prince Ralis was pretty much one of the only two people that knew where Link had ended up. The young royalty was only a bit confused at first, knowing that Link wasn't even from the mountains, but with a brief explanation (sans Link's lycanthropy) the prince understood. Besides, he owed Link a life debt and so he would not say anything when people brought it up in conversation. However, the young prince admitted that if Ilia asked, he would be weak to her sad eyes and since he _owed_ her even more than Link- she'd win.

The hero would take what he could get. Besides, he couldn't blame Ralis- Ilia had the same effect on him.

So, whenever he came down from the mountain to ask for certain supplies, Prince Ralis easily got it for him. The Zoras were a little confused at first, but when Link started paying the Prince for their time and effort, the aquatic people assumed it was a business transaction with a mountain man (though he had passed through a lot when he had been on his quest, no one had really stopped to ask who he was. Most people didn't even _know_ he was the Hero of Twilight, which was fine by him.) and no more questions were raised about the material requests made to their royalty.

Though Yeto would help him carry the supplies from time to time, Link couldn't always count on the Yeti to be available. Yeto hunted most of the time to bring in enough food for the three of them and needed enough time to cook it as well. Yeta, on the other hand, though much better than when Link met her originally, wasn't as strong as her husband and could, at best, carry barely the same amount that Link could. However, she got tired easily and was extremely slow in her gait, so Link figured it was best he did the work himself. However, Yeta always looked downcast that she couldn't keep up or even be much help.

So Link found something else for her to do to help- something that Yeta quickly took to and loved doing with every fiber of her being. He taught her how to use a spindle, a loom, and how to crochet, knit, and sew. The female Yeti loved it (It was pretty much the only time outside of meals when Yeta didn't have her arms tucked into her fitted hoodie sweater that had no armholes). She was often stuck at home with little to nothing to do. In Yeti practice, apparently, the males hunted _and_ cooked while the females took care of their young. Since Yeta was surprisingly quite young, Yeto wasn't keen on having their own young right away. From what Link gleamed, the older a Yeti was when they started having young, the better their likelihood of surviving the birth. So Yeto, despite now that Yeta had nothing to do, decided to wait for young.

Link respected the big Yeti even more for that hard decision and, in a small way, helped Yeto by giving Yeta something fun and necessary to do. Link taught her the basics, even going out of his way to teach her to read Hylian more fluently than she already could so that if she wanted to learn more than just the basics (which was all Link really knew how to do), the hero could bring her books with more techniques. Yeta _loved_ it. So whenever Link had to do a supply run, he was also hunting down books for Yeta.

And in return Yeta began to really go to town with any cloth material he brought back. She made quilts, blankets, drapes, pillows, scarves, gloves, coats, pants, tunics, and a plethora of more things. And since she and Yeto didn't really _need_ clothes, Yeta made Link _many_ outfits. The young man didn't think it necessary, but Yeta _loved_ dressing him up. He quickly realized that he had become the 'practice child' for her to test her mothering skills on, and, with a little displeasure, Link allowed her to do as she pleased.

Link spent a lot of time on the crumbling home, determined to fix it up into a nice place for both the Yetis and himself (seeing as they had taken him in as a part of their family). The hardest part at first _had_ been convincing Yeto that the house needed repairs, but once Yeto got it, the next big task was chasing out the horde of monsters that decided to make the place their home. Most of them had been lured there by the presence of the Twilight Mirror. That was why the mountain had gotten as busy as it had with all the monsters in the first place, but now that it was gone, the dark beasts stopped coming in by the buckets. However, that didn't mean the ones that had gotten there _left_ with the mirror piece. So it was up to the experience hero to take them all out and destroy the remaining beasts. The Freezards, Mini Freezards, Chilfos, White Wolfos and Ice Keese- all of them had to be cut away in order to even begin restoration.

It was quite the task, but not one Link was unfamiliar with. Even as a Goatherd, his main responsibility was protecting the goats, which meant killing beasts that were stupid enough to try to hurt the goats. Rusl had begun his informal training with the wooden sword Link had _because_ the teenager couldn't always pick the beasts off from a distance with his long bow (which, by the way, had broken when Malo had only been an infant still suckling on his mother's milk. Link had by then mastered the sword techniques and, instead of replacing the bow, went with a more direct assault).

He almost wanted to laugh sometimes at how naive the city folk were to the life of a farmer, always assuming that they were stupid merely because they didn't understand city life or politics. But could any of those people hunt? Could they protect themselves? Could they decide if a water source was good or bad? Could they build houses, manage livestock, grow food, or even know what was forgeable in the forest? The people there didn't know how truffles were found, that much he was certain of. So when even Princess Zelda asked how he felt about everything that had happened to him, the best answer he had was 'the wolf thing wasn't exactly expected or the magical kingdom in another dimension'.

 _Death_ was a _part_ of _life_ , albeit very sad at times. Especially in a small village where animals were raised as a source of food and monsters had the idea that the food was theirs to take. Link would admit that the idea of killing another human had made him give pause for a bit, but when Ganondorf had changed into that giant beast, the feral wolf instead him instantly saw him as 'prey' and no longer as 'human'.

That didn't mean Link never had nightmares about all the bloodshed he had done, but because he wasn't new to death, he understood how to cope with the knowledge and how to accept his deeds without guilt. It was something a lot of farmers dealt with, actually.

Besides, he had never killed an innocent party. When he felt the weight of his quest heavy on his shoulders, though rare those times were, the young, retired hero just had to glance at Yeta and it all came back to him about how many lives he had saved. How even those who had been infected with the darkness came out alive due to his efforts.

The fact was, despite how annoying it had been, Link managed to clear the entire mansion out and now no more beasts spawned anywhere within the place, making it all around safer for Yeta to walk about in. Yeto was grateful for that, so anytime Link asked for a little extra Yeti power, Yeto made the time to lend a hand. For the most part, though, Link worked by himself.

The young man usually worked from dawn until dusk, taking his meal breaks whenever Yeto called him to eat, and when night had fallen, Link bid the two Yetis goodnight and would run about until around midnight as a wolf before heading back to his part of the mansion and going to bed himself. He would then proceed to get up an hour before daybreak and practice his sword skills, not too keen to let his abilities rust with misuse.

Once a week he would take a much needed break from his work, sleep in before eating a large brunch Yeto left for him, bid his goodbye to Yeta (and usually failing to dodge her request to try on yet another article of clothing she had made, though to be fair all his older clothes were slowly becoming more and more snug on him) before heading down the mountain for a supply run. He never lingered in public areas long, only staying in the Zora Domain long enough to put in his supply request to Ralis before heading further down the path to spend the afternoon fishing at Hena's pond. She would always happily greet him, completely unaware of his role in the world during the Twilight crisis, and set him up with a fishing pole and a canoe. She didn't even seem to care when he took the opportunity to take a swim and wash up a bit before heading back up to the mountains at dusk.

From time to time, Link would even hang around the Zora's Domain and catch a reekfish for Yeto to cook that night- only if he didn't have to drag back a ton of supplies on that same trip though. Surprisingly enough, life continued on in that rhythm for quite a while.

In fact, near the completion of the mansions restoration (and marking the beginning of Link's plans on modifying the giant home) the young teenager realized he was soon turning _nineteen_ and… since when had he barely become shorter than Yeta? Though not as huge as Yeto, Yeta wasn't exactly small to Hylian standards. Why had he never noticed? Sure, he knew he had eventually had traded his clothes for warmer, more fitting ones, seeing as they always seemed to get rather snug (and his old tunic did nothing for the cold). And, while Yeta was always bugging him about remeasuring him, he never had connected the dots as to why. He had figured it was just muscle mass he had developed from all the hard labor or the idea that Yeta wanted to make clothes and she never could remember where she put the last paper with his measurements at (she could be slightly forgetful).

Suddenly, Link wished there _was_ a mirror around the place. He knew he had grown a beard that he kept trimmed well enough (since he wasn't about to shave without a mirror) and he had long ago had to pull back the majority of his hair into a ponytail (because Ilia had always cut his hair prior to now), though he made sure his fringes were well maintained less they obstruct his vision. He'd try remember to ask Hena if she had a mirror next time he went down fishing.

Perhaps this is why no one really seemed to be able to look at him, other than the Yetis, Ralis, and Hena, with a clear idea of who he was.

Shrugging, Link figured it would work in his favor to be less recognizable and, in reality, there was nothing he could do to _stop_ growing (not that he wanted to). Bo and Rusl had always made fun of him for being so small, but Uli had always encouraged him by reminding him that boys kept growing long after girls had stopped. Perhaps his unusual growth spurt could also be contributed to the power of his Triforce piece. Ganondorf was a huge beast of a man, perhaps some of that stemmed from wielding the power of the goddesses? If Link thought about it, even Zelda was a head taller than most women. He decided that guessing wouldn't do him much good and accept the fact that the growth gave him an advantage as well as a weakness. The young swordsman decided to doubled his efforts in his training to stay quick and nimble despite his recently acknowledged size.

Another thing he had noticed after some time was that, not only did he eat nearly as much as Yeta (which, against a regular adult Hylian _male_ , was a _lot_ ) but he was hungry twice as often from all the energy he spent rebuilding the mansion. The wood work wasn't as strenuous of a task, but the mason work was, especially when Link decided to rebuild every wall that had been crumbling and even replace or patch a few of the damaged wooden beams. Both the remodeling _and_ carrying the heavy beams required a lot of strength- which, to Link's great surprise, he could handle with little to none of Yeto's help. So Link, instead of depending on Yeto to feed him more than the customary meals in both Yeti and Hylain culture, the young lycanthrope would go out and catch his own meals as a wolf and eat them raw as well.

The first time he had bitten into the flesh of another living creature and tasted the blood as it filled his mouth, it had been nearly nauseating. Everything about being a wolf had been overwhelming at the beginning, but now the idea of eating the meat of his prey raw didn't even phase Link in his wolf form. He did, however, come across another startling new change while hunting as a wolf. He had gotten quite far down the mountain one day when he had gone off to catch his second lunch and the prey had come pretty close to a lake when he finally caught the smaller beast. Once he had eaten his fill, he trotted over to the lake with quiet steps now that the shackle upon his forelimb had long since been removed by Zelda, and low and behold in the reflection as he leaned over to drink was a wolf of a different color staring back at him! He could still see the subtle markings that his forehead bore, but his fur had changed in coloring that nearly matched the snow! The fact that he was also way larger than a regular wolf didn't escape his attention, but it mattered little with how big he knew he was as a person. But the magic of his change had allowed him to acclimate to his environment?! That was a shocker.

He better make sure that Yeto _knew_ that he had changed color, seeing as he wasn't sure if the Yeti might make a mistake and eat him. That was definitely not something he ever hoped would happen, but the Yeti was only aware of not eating funny colored wolves… Maybe Link should ask that _all_ wolves be off the Yetis' diet. For his own health.

Again, though it was a startling change, it didn't stop Link from continuing on from day to day like he had been. He had settled in well to his new environment and was happily living with the Yetis with plenty of good food to fill his belly and a warm roof to put over his head. As the next year continued, Link worked on upgrading many facets of the mansion, including turning the outside courtyard into am enclosed area with a glass roof that had him muttering every curse word he knew as he struggled to build it. He hadn't been nearly as good with his glass production as he thought he was and it took quite a bit of failed attempts at the skill before he could make a few panes of glass without ruining all of them.

However, it was well worth the hassle when he managed to finish enclosing the outside courtyard and almost immediately the effects could be seen as the area began to have a greenhouse affect. Link, to be honest, had hoped it would work like this, but he couldn't have been sure. Ordona Provence didn't have greenhouses because it took a lot of sand and effort (to which Link now knew first hand) to make window panes as big as he had, but Link had been studying one that he had found in Hyrule Castle when Zelda and Midna had been finishing up his gift before the three of them headed off to the desert.

With there being no more harsh wind, the sun beating down on the glass, and the light flurry of snow unable to fall upon the soil (along with Link nearly ruining his paws to loosen the dirt after the snow melted away) the once lifeless area gave way to some viability. It was still cold, but not as cold as it was outside, the heat of the sun being trapped inside and warming up the enclosed area. After a few days, Link even attempted starting a garden in one patch of the outside court and used the other half as his training grounds.

The more Link began to improve the place, the more he wished to have livestock around to eliminate the need of going all the way down the mountain for things like cheese and milk. If he could just have a few animals up this way, then he'd be able to keep them in the few green pastures that lay up in the mountains. There was an area nearby even that was big enough to fit a barn and enough fodder could be grown to feed the livestock even (now that the mountain's strange weather curse had been lifted with the removal of the mirror).

Link managed to build his barn not too far away- but seeing as the mansion was built on a cliff, he couldn't build much more around it, so Link finally got to building a secondary home near the barn so he could tend to the animals he was going to be importing and also allow the spouses some more privacy, though he always made it down in time for meals and spent most of the time he wasn't running around as a wolf with rebuilding the mansion.

Yeta was very interested in the idea of 'livestock', since neither her or her husband kept animals around. In Yeti culture all animals were a source of food and to be used accordingly. Keeping animals for other means of product had never even once occurred to them, not even when Link asked her where she thought the raw wool he would bring for her to spin came from. She honestly didn't understand before that moment that sheep made wool. The young man was just happy he had made mention of it _now_ before something silly happened like Yeto using the livestock as meat.

By the time Link had turned twenty, he had finally accomplished all that he had set out to do when moving up to the mountains. He had his own home with a farm now, able to sew enough seeds to store up the fodder for when winter really hit the mountains and a spacious enough barn that none of his animals suffered during the winter time. He had a garden over at the mansion, which he went to tend everyday, dropping off some eggs, milk, cheese, and even wool when it was sheering season for him and the Yetis to enjoy. The mansion was repaired, though Link was extremely curious about the multiple paintings he had found within the mansion (especially since some of them repeated several times over). He kept a copy of each, hanging them back up properly, and was now in the process of making Yeta paints so she could reuse the canvases he had decided could be painted over. The female Yeti was honestly excited. Never before had so many opportunities been offered to her. Yeto tried, but at the same time, he didn't know much about these things either, so Link filled her days with endless entertainment that, once the basics of the lessons were over, she was able to do by herself when the two of them were busy.

Link, on the other hand, was glad that he had decided to live up in the Snowpeak Mountains. He was surprised by how little time he had to be lonely- and if he ever were, he spent time with the two Yetis. He was pleased by the fact that he could be himself, and, though he wasn't sure _why_ he had even decided to _rebuild_ the mansion, he found himself a good life through the task and two individuals who would accept him for what he was no matter what.

The few times he did crave conversation more advance than the broken Hyrulian the Yetis spoke, he would head down and bicker playfully with Hena- who enjoyed his company too, since other customers were far and few and she could only talk to her siblings for so long before getting tired of them.

No, Link had made the right decision. Ordona Provence could have never given him this freedom. He was a fully integrated lycanthrope now, able to change without the slightest of problems and the littlest of thought towards the action.

He just hoped the Goddesses would bless his retirement, seeing as he really didn't feel like saving the world _ever_ again.

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A/N:I am honestly more use to this size of a chapter, but the last chapter just worked out to be so small. I am not trying to make a bunch of big or little chapters, but I do want to just work with the flow as it comes.

I already wrote a lot of this story (20,000 words at least) and am releasing it in short bursts. So, just so everyone understands, I am _not_ holding the chapters hostage by requesting reviews, I am merely stating that when I get to the part where I haven't started/finished, the muse of my mind is fueled by _real_ feedback. Tell me what you think, don't simply expect me to _know_. That goes for any story out there. You want more chapters, you want more of your guilty pleasures- then feed the writer what they want! They aren't asking for money, no, they are doing this for free, so just remember to give them what they are hoping to get in reciprocation for all their hard work- your honest opinion. And no, flames are not what people are looking for. Who do you think you are, being rude like that. Needless bashing of someone's writing _hurts_. Give constructive criticism, for every bad part you feel the need to point out, also tell them what they did that you liked! You could say "your understanding of 'you're' and 'your' need work, but damn, that last part made me laugh so hard I peed a little." For every flaw, also mention what gem you found as well. It helps. And honestly, this goes for every fan fiction writer who really is here to improve their writing skills. You might not know it, but by giving honest feedback to the writers on , you might be helping the future J.K Rowling with their 'Harry Potter'.

Okay, the soapbox segment is over. I'll get off the box now and go back to my real notes. I felt the need to address that because some people can easily be offended by the idea of 'participation' in a community such as this one. I know I am not the best at it, especially since I have been gone, but I too am trying to better my involvement and give people the reviews they crave to get.

As for this chapter. World building. Still slow-burn, but once I get everything set up, it'll be great. So far I am trying to better introduce the Yetis and the place where most of this stuff is going to take place, the next chapter will be more of when the story picks up. I promise.

 **Purrloin77:** Thank you so much for your review, I am glad you like it! You are right, Link isn't going to get the retirement that he so craves, but everyone needs a little crazy in their life and, well, Link has a bit more than that because, really, its just too funny. Also I see him as a sort of 'rolls with it but that doesn't mean he has to like it' sort of fellow. I mean, that basically is what happened throughout the entirety of Twilight Princess, right? As for the Dog collar, I couldn't think of anything more Midna like. She seems like a prankster to me.

 **Volleys-chan:** I am glad you like the idea. Yeah, I did play with the idea of him marrying Ilia, because I can't ever see a way for him to marry Zelda without a ton of political problems popping up because of it. I don't know who he will end up with, but I will present the characters and see where it goes. I hope you enjoy it~!

See you in the next chapter.

 _~Lore_

Rose Co **lore** d Philosophies


	3. In Which an Old Friend Asks for Help

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. I'm merely using them to entertain myself and others.**

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 **Arctic Wolf**

Chapter 3

 _In Which an Old Friend Asks for Help_

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One particular day, asleep in his bedroom located in the mansion- a room covered in furs, tools, wardrobes ready to burst with different clothes Yeta had made him, and a few tables strewn with his weapons that he had been giving maintenance to as well as some woodcarving projects- he was promptly woken up with a start at the big, but delicate hands of Yeta. Half asleep he shot up a bit to look at her hazily. Today was his day off and he never woke this early at all.

"Link, uh." Yeta excitedly shook his shoulder again. "Yeto has decided today! Today Yeta old enough, uh!"

It admittedly took Link longer than it should have for him to understand her words. He brush a lock of his fringe out of his face, noting internally to get Hena to cut his hair when he went fishing later today, and his face screwed up into one of confusion. "What?"

"Today!" Yeta was so excited that she didn't care if the young human was being dense. "Today marks day of Yeta being full adult!"

Not to say she _hadn't_ been an adult in the eyes of her culture. Even in Hylian culture someone Yeta's age would be considered old enough to marry and old enough to bear child- OH!

"You and Yeto are going to have a baby?" He could see her eyes light up at the prospect.

"We try now, uh!" She admitted. "Yeto say Yeta old enough. We try tonight. See what Goddesses bless us with, uh!"

As happy as Link was for her (because Yeta was oddly enough like the sister he had never had growing up), he was not staying here tonight then.

"Congratulations then Yeta." Link gave her a kind smile. "I am very happy for Yeto and you."

"Uh!" Yeta nodded in agreement but paused as she thought about something. Her cute toothy smile was on her lips and a teasing look in her eye. "But Link no need be worried. Link _always_ be Yeta's first baby."

"Yeta, I am barely _three years_ younger than you. _Maybe_ four," Link's amusement died at the idea that she really did think he was her child.

"Baby Link." Yeta teased. She laughed at Link's deadpanned look and petted his hair in the way she knew annoyed him. "Yeto and Yeta feed you, clothe you, and take care of you."

"I rebuilt this house. I _taught_ you to sew. I feed myself! I _bring_ you two food!" Link listed off, clearly not amused anymore by her teasing. "I have a beard and I am twenty for Goddesses' sake."

"Still my baby." Yeta admitted with another toothy grin. She was too happy for Link's grumpy behavior to bring her down.

"Fine, but when that baby is born, don't go telling it strange things like that." He couldn't stay mad at Yeta. He had a kind smile on his lips in no time as he slowly began to pull himself out the warmth of his bedding.

"You be baby's big brother, uh?" She sounded hopeful for his agreement.

Link grunted a bit as he stood, his body cracking and groaning a bit at the abuse he had put it through in such a short few years, but it was a good ache. He glanced over to where the female Yeti still sat on his bed with a kind gaze. "Yeta, I will be that baby's big brother if _that_ is what you want, though I prefer to be called Uncle Link."

"Big Brother Link, uh." That toothy smile again. The one that he couldn't say no to.

"But, since you and Yeto are going to try for a baby, I think I might head down the mountain for a while."

"When you be back?" Yeta was curious only because Link hardly left for more than a few hours- a day tops.

"Hena will let me stay for a bit. I might go fishing for a few days. Relax a bit since I really don't have much else to build- other than a _cradle_ now."

"Uh." She nodded, though not sure why he was leaving for a few days. Link didn't need to leave. Yeto and she were going to make baby was all. She tossed that aside as she thought of something, a coy toothy smile on her lips. "You make Hena wife one day?"

Link choked a bit on the air he had been breathing. "Hena?" He nearly laughed. "Hena isn't interested in me. She only loves her fish."

"Link getting old. Link needs find wife, uh. Yeta already married. Yeta now going to have baby. Link needs to get to it, uh." She teased him once more, laughing at how red Link's face became, even his pointed ears were rosy at the tips.

"Yeta needs to mind her own business!" Link practically shouted in his embarrassment, his face so red that it sent Yeta backwards onto the bed with a fit of laughter. "And didn't you just say I was your baby? Make up your mind, woman!"

"Link is big baby. Baby needs wife to become adult, uh!" Her toothy smile was wide as she giggled between her sentences. Just as Link looked ready explode with embarrassment, Yeta scurried off the bed and out of the room. "Be sure future wife pretty! Yeta wants to make all her clothes! Yeta wants to make pretty dresses!"

"Yeta!" Link shouted, his face turning even redder. He was not going to have this conversation with a woman-yeti- _person_ who didn't even know why he didn't want to be around while Yeto and she 'made a baby'. Have fun with that lesson Yeto, was all Link could think.

As he shouted her name, she slammed to door and dashed away from his room in a fit of laughter, pleased that she could embarrass him so. It wasn't often that Link got flustered, but Yeta always found it funny when she could make the usually calm Hylian break out into a bright flush and dumbfounded expression. Her family had not allowed much talk from the females- her mother always punishing her for trying to have fun. That was why she loved Yeto. Yeto let her be who she was and he was happy to play games with her- just like Link did- but Yeta loved the two differently. Link was her baby and Yeto was her wonderful husband. She couldn't wait to raise a baby in this home that Link had made so beautifully and allow all her future babies to have a home where laughter and happiness was completely welcomed.

Link, on the other hand, was grumbling a bit as he went and fetched an appropriate outfit to wear. The weather was getting colder, so he had locked up his livestock in the barn and made sure they had more than enough food to eat for a few weeks and fresh water to drink. It wasn't so cold that the water troughs would freeze over any time soon and even if they did, he had already drilled a few of the animals on how to break the ice to get the water. One of the perks of becoming a wolf was that he could easily speak to his livestock- which also meant he couldn't _eat_ them. They were for their animal product _only_.

After dressing himself in enough warm layers to keep the cold out, Link started putting on the armor he had made for himself from the pieces of panoply displays that had been abandoned here by the previous owners. Since his growth spurt (which had finally stopped sometime a few months ago), Link found that he couldn't fit into the hero garb that he had once worn when he had been on his quest. He wasn't too upset about it, seeing as now that his quest was over he didn't want to mark himself in such an obvious manner. He had repurposed a few of the pieces of it, unfortunately, most of it wasn't big enough for him now. He had, after all, only been sixteen when he had been gifted with the garb and, damn, he hated how much taller everyone had been comparatively. Even Zelda had a few inches on him at the time, though now… Link laughed to himself, he probably dwarfed her now. He definitely made Hena feel small, and she loudly proclaimed that too.

Link rolled his eyes as he caught himself thinking about the fishing nut, no _wonder_ Yeta had it in her head that he liked her. She was practically the only other person he talked to outside the Yetis and Prince Ralis. He should probably fix that so no one got the wrong idea, but at the same time, he really couldn't find it within himself to care. He _chose_ isolation. He didn't want to go back to the way things had been _before_ his journey began because, unlike a lot of people, he knew it never would be the same. Why pretend? Why get upset when it failed to work out? The call of the wild was not something he was willing to give up. Nope, he chose to live like this: a life without the illusion that he could have his previous lifestyle back. Besides, he wasn't lonely anyways.

Link headed down the mountain as a wolf, nimbly weaving his way through his usual path and killing any Keese, Wolfos, or wild beast that threatened his path. Though there were not as many as there _had_ been when he first scaled the mountain all those years ago, monsters swarms were hard to wipe out, so he did what he could, when he could.

He made it down the mountain in good time, activating his transformation rather easily and walking through the long tunnel that lead into Zora Domain. He bypassed going up to talk to Prince Ralis, since there was not much else he needed from off the mountain anymore. Most of what he needed, he could easily obtain now _on_ Snowpeak. So he headed down the path a slow gait and enjoyed the walk to Hena's pond.

He still made good time and was soon opening the door to the private property and walking right in, as he always did, intent on renting a canoe and fishing for the next several days. He was quickly pushed back outside and the door closing as he glanced down at Hena in a rather surprised manner. Damn she was so short that he hadn't even seen her till she plowed right into him and pushed him back.

"Other customers." She said rather breathily, like she was torn between being stressed and relieved she had caught him in time to keep him out.

"Oh." The ex-hero was glad that Hena had picked up on his distaste for others, but it still seemed a bit off that she would go to such lengths. "Is something the matter Hena?"

"Yeah," the lovely woman peered up at him with those pretty eyes of hers. "They were asking about a young man named Link. They don't seem to have your latest description, seeing as they measured you about yay high-" She lifted her hand up to where he once stood a few years ago. "-with a green tunic and hat and such. Basically, you when I first met you. I told them I hadn't seen anyone to that description, but that I'd keep my eye out."

Now Link was the one breathing out in relief. "Thanks Hena."

She cocked an eyebrow at him as she observed him skeptically. "You in trouble?"

"Not that I am aware of." Link honestly could not think of why someone would ask _Hena_ about him. Nobody even knew Hena _knew_ him. If Hyrule needed him back, then they would have gone through the means that he had left time in case of an emergency- so whoever these people were, they weren't affiliated with Zelda. He pulled himself from his thoughts as he looked down at the fisherwoman. "What do they look like?"

"Um, there are two boys, one man that's obviously one of the two's father, a married couple by the looks of it, and a really grumpy old man with the kingdom's crest on his person. They _were_ going to leave shortly after I told them, but the young kids wanted to try fishing for real and then the father said sure and then the married man boasted that he'd catch his wife a fish, but I honestly think he's just going to end up tipping their canoe."

Rusl, Auru, Colin, Talo, Shad, and Ilia. Link would bet his sword on it. And as tempting as it was to go in and say hello, there would then be too many people aware of the area he often frequented and may easily figure out or, worse, attempt to find his home up in the mountains. No, he couldn't say hello, even if he wanted to. It saddened him a bit, but it couldn't be helped- not if he wanted to keep his anonymity. Besides that, Yeta and Yeto didn't need strangers stumbling upon them, not when the two of them had decided to have a baby finally.

"I know them. They are good people." Link allowed him to say. "But I would rather not have them know I am here. I left that life when I moved up to the mountains and I won't give up what I have now for a few awkward, friendly hellos."

Hena stared at him for a moment before nodding. "I can accept that. I don't completely understand, but I can accept that you've chosen your path and it's none of their business." She furrowed her brows and she poked him hard in the chest. "However, if I didn't know you better, I would be worried that you were running away from something, but, lucky for you, I _do_ know you well enough that you don't run from problems. You deal with them. _However_ , what these people seem to be doing here isn't some sort of intervention. They are looking for a friend they lost. A friend that apparently _can't_ be there for them like they want him to be _._ I don't know the details and I don't honestly _want_ to know the details- but I'm sure I'm going to hear them sometime during their stay. The point is, I am not going to tell. You have your reasons and I will trust those reasons, but next time you come down here and request the cute guide to go fishing with you- you pay _double,_ got that?"

"Thanks Hena." He planted a small kiss on her forehead, something he was known to do to her at times. "I'll pay triple."

Her eyes narrowed, but playfully as she pursed her lips. "You are so lucky I am married to my fishing pole or I'd make you marry my ass for all these little allowances you make for yourself."

"You'd never marry me," Link chortled. "I snore like a bear and I live where there are no fish. I am not about to relocate either."

"Deal breaker right there." She laughed with him. "Though, if anyone starts hitting on me, I get to say your my affiance."

"Deal. I'll even break their fingers for you if they get to handsy and won't take no for an answer."

"And _that's_ why I keep you around." She was very pleased with his words.

And right there he proved Yeta wrong about Hena. Not that the Yeti woman would believe him. With a half hug, Hena went back inside and he headed back towards the mountains. He decided that if they were this close to the mountain, it'd best be a wolf while they searched for a man. He'd steer them clear of any dangers and keep them corralled away from the mansion, though he highly doubted any of them other than Rusl would try to scale the mountains. Maybe Ashei, but it didn't sound like she had been with the group at the fishing pond.

Passing through the Zora Domain once more, Link swung by Prince Ralis's favored fishing spot. Though the Royal hardly had much free time, he still made sure he had enough time to enjoy the one pastime he had. Link gave the young prince a heads up about the group, knowing they might come his way, and hoping that Ralis wouldn't crack if the group used Ilia as their secret weapon.

"As much as I still hold high regard for Ilia, you helped fill my people's coffers with all those purchases you made." Ralis admitted, swinging his line into the water and slowly reeling in the lure as he spoke. "You paid extra _knowing_ that it was going straight into our own treasury. That money has infinitely helped us since my mother's passing, so, no, I owe you more of a debt than Ilia, in my mind. I remain ignorant of your true identity, mountain man."

"Thanks." It was all Link could think to say after such a kindness. He had known the people in Zora Domain had a hard time after the Queen had passed and he wanted to help. "By the way, next time I come down, I have this painting I stumbled across that you may like. There were literally six or seven copies of the same painting, so I would like to give you one of them."

"I look forward to seeing what it is then." There was a faint smile on the young prince's lips before it vanished and he looked serious as he stared out into the pool of water. "Now off with you, you're ruining my peace."

The ex-hero laughed. "I'll do more than that." And with those words he cannonballed into the water, scaring all the fish away.

"Damnit!" The rare profanity leapt from the Zora's lips as he stomped his foot. "I am trying to _fish_."

"My fishing day was ruined, so why shouldn't yours?" Link full out laughed as he swam backwards towards the tunnel. The trek was just long enough that his clothes would be fully dry by the time he got to where the snow was.

"Because I didn't _ruin_ it!" The Royal said before letting out a defeated sigh. "Guess I'll go back to work. Fish won't bite now."

Link chuckled under his breath a bit longer as he made his way to the opposite shore. There were a few Zora who had been observing the two conversing, but even they seemed well humored by Link's stunt. Everyone knew that the Prince was a bit crabby if anyone bothered him when he was fishing, so it served him right to have such a prank played on him.

As Link headed back up to the mountain, he soon decided it would be funner to run around as a wolf right away rather than waiting till he saw the actual mountain. So with a quick transformation, he was soon dashing through and practically frolicking as he played in the snow mounds the moment he was out of the tunnel. The once hero hardly ever had a reason, despite the original idea of doing so, to just be a wolf. Of course, he was usually a wolf for six or more hours a day- when he hunted for his food and at night after dusk had fallen- but staying a wolf for days on end just never seemed to happen, so Link was glad for the chance. He was excited at the prospect and thus was acting a bit like a pup as he played happily in the snow, tongue lopped out to one side of his open mouth as he enjoyed his game.

The lake at the foot of the tunnel had cracked- as it did this time of year- and in order to get across one had to leap from one ice patch to the other, which Link did with much practiced finesse. He hadn't even been on the other side of the pond for more a few moments before a pack of wolfos jumped out of the snow ready to attack him, but, unfortunately for them, Link merely saw their existence as a game to see how fast he could wipe them out.

He spent the next day or so playing about, sleeping in caves, catching his meals and devouring his prey till his belly was full, and keeping an eye on the mouth of the Snowpeak tunnel. It was about midday a day later when Link's suspicions were proven right and out from the mouth of the tunnel came the patchwork group of travelers. Link nearly let out a mirthful bark at how utterly _ill-equipped_ they were to even handle a day of cold weather. They were wearing their gear meant for traveling the plains, not the snowy mountains! There was no way they were going to go out further once they saw the lake. Link just laid himself down where he had been watching on the other side where he had once slew a poe and watched with vast humor.

He couldn't see all too well from this distance, but he could make out who was who and the basics of what their body language was indicating. Shad wasn't pleased. He was cold and he didn't want to be there longer than he had to. Rusl was rubbing the back of his head as he looked a bit downhearted at the sight of the lake while Auru had his arms crossed both as a sign that he probably had _told_ them so and because he was cold. Both young boys (Goddesses they had gotten big in two years), while obviously cold, were ecstatic at the sight before them, having never seen such a sight in the village they had grown up in. Ordona Provence didn't have snow at any point of the year. He could almost see that Talo was debating chucking a snowball at Colin's head, but to his great surprise (and to Link's amusement), Colin beat him to the idea and lobbed one at the brunet. Last but not least, there was Ilia. He couldn't really see much, but the way she held herself, she was entranced by the scenery. She was clutching her hands together and against her chest, but she was leaning forwards as if she was looking at a magical land.

Link gave a wolf grin, but alas, he couldn't have them linger. He pulled himself into a sitting position and let out the loudest howl he had. He could sense the mood of the troupe shift even from his place on the other side of the lake. They no longer played about or stared starry-eyed at the land before them. They stood still, alert to the danger of this winter land. It was Rusl that motioned for them all to start towards the tunnel once more and reluctantly they all listened. One by one they all headed back towards the mouth of the tunnel until all who remained was Rusl. The older swordsman's eyes sweeping the landscape before it landed on Link's form.

Link was slightly impressed, but Rusl was always above par when it came to being a good soldier. The two stared a bit before Rusl slowly walked towards the _lake_ of all things. He wasn't ready to leave just yet and Link had a feeling that Rusl was trying to lure him close. So, despite it maybe being a bad idea, Link leapt down from cliff to cliff till he was at the foot of the lake. Rusl made no indication of moving from his spot, but he remained calm, almost as if beckoning Link further towards him. Now really curious, the wolf leapt nimbly from ice plate to ice plate till he felt he was near enough.

"Woah, you're big…" Rusl muttered to himself as he realized the wolf's true size. He was a little nervous now, but the wolf made no effort to finish leaping those few ice pads and seating himself as if waiting to listen. Though the aging swordsman felt foolish, he still felt like the wolf would understand his words. He had remembered a unique wolf once approaching him in Faron Woods, and even though he had been so startled as to not even remembering he had his blade with him, the wolf- with an outrageous monster on its back- observed him mirthfully before heading off back into the woods- like it knew. He only hoped this wolf was as intelligent as the Faron Woods' wolf.

He cleared his throat and, as foolish as he felt, began to talk aloud to the beast. "I don't know how much you can understand me… Oh, I feel stupid." Rusl nearly gave up, but the wolf gave a quick bark as it stomped one if its front paws against the ice. Apparently, _he_ was wasting the wolf's time if he did not say what he was going to say. "I apologize." Rusl amended. "My friends and I _were_ searching for a young lad, though the chances of him being up here are slim, we were going to attempt nonetheless, but I don't think we will. However, a friend of ours was suppose to meet us at the entrance of the tunnel, but she didn't show up." Link's eyes widened a bit. Was he talking about Ashei? "Our friend was to be our guide, since she grew up on mountains like this one, and while it may be just an old man being foolish, I am worried about her. She never misses something planned like this…" Oh _shit_ , he _was_ talking about Ashei! "She's usually prompted and a bit mad that we are always so late." Ashei was on the mountains? For how long had she been around? Rusl rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he continued, completely unaware at the panic running through the wolf before him. "I know it might sound stupid, especially since she might attack you if you get to close, but if you see her, could you guide her back down the mountain and make sure she is well? I know I am asking a lot, but I am worried. A pupil of mine disappeared nearly two years ago without so much as a goodbye, leaving his horse with his childhood friend as a sort of wedding gift, but I can sense he is alright. Ashei on the other hand, I have this unsettling feeling…"

Link needed to hear no more. He nodded his head as obviously as he could, giving a small woof under his breath before fully approaching Rusl. While it startled the man, he didn't attack. His hands were raised up as the strange, almost magical white wolf began to circle him with a snuffling sound coming from his snout as he search for something on the swordsman. The man's eyes widened when he noticed the collar barely peeking past the thick white fur and was instantly calmed by the idea that this wolf was someone's pet. After he relaxed it only took a moment for him to understand what the wolf was looking for.

"You want something with her scent?" The wolf let out a small woof as he took two steps back and sat on the snow, those deep blue eyes staring at him as if waiting for him to procure what he had been looking for. "I don't have anything she might have worn but-" He cut himself off a sudden thought. "I will be right back. Errr…. Stay?" He held a hand out as apart of the command and the wolf practically rolled his eyes as he laid down, making himself as comfortable as possible while Rusl booked it for the tunnel, hoping to catch up with Shad and Auru to see if either of them had something of hers.

Link was mildly surprised when it had only taken him ten minutes to return, though he was huffing a bit at how fast he had run to not keep the wolf waiting. "Here." He held out a pair of gloves. "She had lent the gloves to Ilia a week ago. I apologize, but this is the best I could do."

Blue eyes narrowed, but Link accepted the challenge. Lucky for Rusl, he knew Ilia's scent well enough to distinguish it from Ashei's. He picked out the color it gave off, memorizing the scent to heart before turning and heading back to the other side of the lake. If he stumbled across the scent, he'd be able to track her easier, but for now, he would have to check the spots easy for humans to get to in order to make sure if she was here or not. This could all be one giant goose chase, after all.

As he leapt back, he could hear Rusl shout his thanks and Link didn't bother doing more than twitching his tail as a signal that he had heard him. So much for playing around. He was once again put on a quest he had neither expected nor wanted.

He really hoped this all turned out a wild goose chase.

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A/N: And an inkling of a story begins! Thank you to everyone who took the time to review! I don't know what it is about reviewing, but sometimes, even with the convenance of it being right at the bottom even I catch myself going 'meh, do it later' or 'Meh, someone else will review'. Its something I need to stop doing. Writing a review takes all of 5 minutes tops for me and I have to quit being lazy. Practice what you preach, right?

So anyways, tell me what you think. What I wasn't exactly planning, but is totally something I can consider is having Ilia and Shad or even Colin and Talo be more a part of story. Malo is off being a multimillionaire, so I'll leave the baby alone, but I am all gung ho for adding more characters because I am a glutton for punishment... I really am when it comes to stories. Anyways, I will leave that one up to you guys. Tell me what you think about the idea as well as your thoughts for this one- would love to hear what you think about the ending and your theories as to what may happen. I already have the next part written, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!

So, for those that wrote me a wonderful, muse-filling review:

 **Namesake:** Thank you so much for your encouragement. I will definitely go with where the characters themselves take me instead of trying to push them together. Also, while not everything is about romance, I do like a little romance in things. Life has that sort of opportunity and while this is supposed to favor family and humor, as my genre mentions, there is no family without _some_ romance- okay maybe, but I like a little happy ever after~!

 **Niacdoial:** I am glad you liked the way I began this tale! Also, that you so much for taking the time to review it~! It really meant a lot to hear from the viewers and get honest feedback from all of you!

 **SonicLozDPLove:** Thank you so much for taking the time to tell me your thoughts! I will be trying to update when I can, but my computer likes to pretend to load my chapters more than it actually _loads_ them, so we will see.

 **Volleys-chan:** Right before I always upload, you sneak in a review! Lol. Thanks again for all your kindness! Your reviews really light up my day~! I am glad you noticed the thing about the culture and that you liked my idea of Yeta's role in all of this, I just figured I couldn't have Link doing everything and Yeta only seemed to sit there (then again she was ill when you meet her in the game). I always thought of her as more childlike than Yeto and _that's_ why it was only the two of them- Yeta might have been his bride, but she was way too young to have children. I thought about it way too much. Also Hena. I wasn't expecting Link to rely so much upon the Fishing Nut, but hey, I liked her as soon as I went and actually fished! I had never done that before in any of my runs of the game until I played on my Wii U. I was like Woah! I like this chick! So I added her to the story.

You all have a Merry Christmas and I will see if I can update sometime soon, but probably not until after Christmas. So I wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope you are surrounded by those you love and obtain joy this season!

See you in the next chapter.

 _~Lore_

Rose Co **lore** d Philosophies


	4. In Which a Wolf is the Hero

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. I'm merely using them to entertain myself and others.**

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 **Arctic Wolf**

Chapter 4

 _In Which a Wolf is the Hero_

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Ashei felt incredibly stupid. She had known better- she really did. She was _raised_ on a damn mountain side for crying out loud and _knew_ more than anyone else the dangers that could rise at any given moment and _what_ did she do? Practically _stepped_ on the damn bear. She had been so busy watching for White Wolfos and Icy Keese that she _stepped_ on a bear that had been napping in a snow mound like a damn novice- no, like she was _Shad_!

She tried to control her shaking, but she was getting colder and colder and she had no more wood to stoke her pitiful campfire she had made in the cave she had sought shelter in. If this was a damned bear cave, she was royally screwed because being nearly mauled by the last bear had put her in quite the sad state. One of her shaking hands snuck under her makeshift bandages to touch one of her more deadly wounds, profanity leaving her lips as her hand came back a mixture of red blood and yellowish puss. It had yet to close and it was infected.

She was as good as dead, Ashei realized. From blood loss or from the fever that the infection would soon bring, she wasn't sure, but as far away from any form of civilization as she was, there was no chance she'd make it.

"Such a waste." She scoffed at herself, teeth chattering as the cold seeped further into her bones. Hypothermia was also a grave possibility too, especially since her wounds left her wet, the frost could seep into her bones with even more ease than usual. "I hardly did a damn thing with my life and now I'm going to die. Either from blood loss, hypothermia, or a damn infection."

It was then that the deities of the world decided that they were going to add to that.

The mountain woman hissed a string of curses as she closed her eyes. _Apparently_ she _had_ picked a bear cave. Goddesses be damned! Forget everything else, she was going to be killed by a damn bear!

The bear came into the cave already testy, possibly because she was intruding in its cave, or the fact that she reeked of blood and it could tell she'd be an easy meal- despite how animals outside of monsters like wolfos usually attacked unprovoked. Up in the winter filled mountains, food was food. So, even though Ashei _knew_ it was pointless, she began scooting herself back as best as she could. Simply because she understood her death was inevitable didn't mean she wanted to met it with a friendly handshake. Besides, bears weren't necessarily known to be gentle. This was going to hurt. A lot.

As the bear slowly lumbered forward, Ashei did her best to scoot further away. She would have waved her sword at it if she thought it'd help, but that would only aggravate it into attacking faster. To be frank, the raven haired woman wasn't even sure she _could_ lift her weapon, her strength sapping away at a frightfully quick pace as her wounds kept slowly bleeding out.

When she could no longer move, too tired and fatigued, Ashei clenched her eyes shut, hoping for either a miracle to happen or that the death would be fast.

Really, the Goddesses were playing games with her nerves, for instead of this bear finishing what the other bear had started, something white and _big_ latched its teeth into the bear's hide, promptly causing the bear to forget about her in favor of protecting itself. Her eyes had flown open at the sound of the beast's angry snarls as this monster of a creature had leapt onto the bear's back and had the skin of the other predator's neck locked in its jaw. The two animals scuffled violently as the bear tried to bat its paw at the wolfos- no, _wolf's_ \- face in an attempt to make it release, but when it realized it couldn't reach, it instead heightened itself onto its back paws and tried to slam the wolf upon its back into the cave wall.

If the wolf had been any other wolf, Ashei was certain it would have been thoroughly caught by surprise by that move and suffered the harsh blow, but _this_ wolf seemed to have expected it. It released it's hold on the back of the bear's neck, slipped from behind the bear right before the other mammal could smash it against the cave wall, and nimbly moved in front of the bear before it lunged once more for the neck. It had been successful and the bear was still too stunned by the damaged it had given itself that it couldn't react to those violent tears at its throat and, with one final, very aggressive snarl, the wolf sunk its teeth into the bears throat completely and _tore it out_. Even as the bear collapsed dead, the wolf still held its esophagus between those razor fangs and shook his head violently as if making sure it wouldn't come back from the dead.

In less than a minute, this white beast, though as big as it was for a wolf, fell a much larger, more powerful beast through fast reflexes and a ferocity Ashei had never witnessed. It used such poise and forethought for a mere animal- predator or not- that let her know of its overwhelming power. A cold chill, one _not_ caused by her hypothermia, shot up her spine when the wolf, muzzle and throat deep red from the blood of its dead contender, looked her way. Its attitude had nearly made a one-eighty after it was sure the bear was dead. Its snarls and growls vanished, instead leaving it mute, as it stared at her with incredible blue, observant eyes.

Ashei was even more surprised when it approached in a sedated, nonthreatening manner. Its head was lowered, its ears back, and its tail curled low to the ground. The wolf took a few cautious sniffs of her, eyes flickering up to meet hers in the most expressive manner she had never seen in an animal. It almost looked like it was… _concerned_. Ashei didn't get the time to muse this discovery seeing as the world had suddenly started swirling. The last thing she saw was the wolf letting out a surprised bark as it started towards her. And thus Ashei managed to do the one thing she had never done before. She fainted.

* * *

The moment the woman warrior's eyes rolled back, Link was transforming into a human. Panic was setting in as he assessed her injuries further, making sure he could move her in such a condition- because that was the only option to getting her help. As a wolf he could smell the infection mixing with her scent and he had already been worried at how she shivered and shook, but what had him most concerned was the amount of blood- her blood- that she had on her. He had to get her to back to the mansion as fast as he could to see if Yeta could give any guidance as to how to handle this problem. His first aide skills were very limited, but Yeta had plenty of practice sewing up and treating his injuries as well as handling Yeto's. It was apart of her culture as the female Yeti to be able to tend to such things.

Before he did anything more, he took off his warm winter coat and wrapped it a few times around the smaller woman, tying it at her waist with the sleeves. Now he could proceed in getting her help. Hoisting her gently up into his arms, Link turned with a quicken gait back towards the mansion, planning the fastest route from this location in his head. He praised the Goddesses that he had hastened his search after coming across that injured bear and catching her scent around the area. He also was glad he had the foresight to kill the bear before continuing on because, as much as he hated killing such animals (because it messed with the biome of the area), he had to backtrack a bit past where the animal had been and he had no time to fight the beast at the moment.

Link hurried through the mountains, understanding that this was a race against time for his friend still faintly holding on with a weakening breath, so, despite knowing better, the past hero went into a full out run. It was dangerous to do so in the mountain as a man- unless one was running for their life from a predator or an avalanche- but he didn't have the time to be careful on routes he was familiar with. The moment he managed to get up to where the old 'bobsleigh' tree was, he knew that he could get there even faster.

With a powerful kick to the tree, one of the frozen slabs of ice fell from it and Link immediately jumped on and hoped his balance was just as good with another person in his arms. While he did make it down the hill in record time, the hurried man decided that he wouldn't be doing such a task any time soon, as he had almost sent them off one of the cliffs on accident. None of that mattered though, because he had gotten back to the mansion and was already pushing the doors open with his back as he struggled to get in with his hands full.

The moment the ancient wooden door was open a crack, Link called out Yeta's name, hoping that the two of them were not still trying to 'have a baby'. Lucky of Link, the Goddesses still seemed to be on his side. Yeta, though not usually one to hurry, had livened her step at the disparate sound of his call. She came to meet him in the hallway right were both banisters ended, eyes widening at the state Link appeared in and the red staining the coat and clothes she had made him only a few weeks ago. What's more was that there was a tiny human female in that coat, looking sickly pale and barely clinging to life.

Yeta's mother instincts quickly took over and she ordered Link to take her to the couch while she shouted for Yeto to grab her mending tools from their bedroom, while she ducked out of her sweater hoodie so she could properly move her arms. The female Yeti wasn't fast, but her husband was already up the ladder and was at their door before Link had even laid Ashei on the couch by the fire in the next room.

Yeta quickly started to take off the bloodied articles of clothes, chasing out both Link and her husband when the woman's modesty was about to be undone. Even as a Yeti- who had no personal concept of modesty- knew that female long eared humans didn't usually allow those of the opposite gender, whom of which were not their spouse, see them unclothed. The two men stood at the door, waiting for any instructions, which sometimes comprised of 'fetch Yeta hot water and towel' or 'Go get Yeta the herbal medicine she uses on Link' and such. It was some time before Yeta called in Link as a wolf and made him lay by Ashei as she shivered violently. The hypothermia overwhelmed her body and if her body temperature didn't rise soon enough, she'd die. Yeta told him as much and, since Link was very warm, especially as a furry wolf, he needed to keep her warm as Yeta worked. He did so, keeping his eyes shut at Yeta's command as the female Yeti tried to treat the young female as quickly as she could.

"Link." Yeta spoke directly to the wolf, his head rising in response. Her eyes dim as she shook her head. "Tiny girl isn't going to make it with only Yeta, uh. Wounds have been mostly closed, but sickness in the wound is still there. Much red life has leaked out of her too. Need more of it than she has to fight wound sickness and the ice in her bones, uh."

Link transformed, but kept his eyes fasted on Yeta. He needed to be able to talk to the female Yeti for this.

"Then is there anything we can do?"

"We need magic healing of the fair folk, uh." Yeta disclosed.

"A fairy?" Link was given a blank stare. She didn't recognize the word. He tried again. "Tiny glowing things with wings?"

"No, not tiny glowing fae. This too big for small fae. Need _Big Fae,_ uh _."_

 _"_ A _Great_ Fairy?" Link sputtered. "But there is only _one_ I've seen and she's across Hyrule in the _desert_."

"No, one on this mountain, uh. Go ask Yeto. He tell you were to find." Yeta returned her attention to the fading life of the woman in her care, letting Link know without words that she needed to focus her attention on Ashei if his friend was to live. Link did his best to slip out without looking the young woman to spare her modesty, but any glimpse he may have gotten was overwritten by his need to speak with Yeto.

When he got back out into the main hallway, where the staircases he had repaired were, he found Yeto sitting by the door, ready to fetch anything to help. The ex-hero quickly explained what Yeta had told him and to his shock, Yeto's eyes lit up.

"AH! YES, THERE IS FAE ON MOUNTAIN! SHE LIVES IN CAVE BY THE TOP OF HIGHEST PEAK, YEAH. ONLY FEW YETI HAVE SEEN HER, BUT ALL KNOW SHE THERE. HER MAGIC STRONG, YEAH." Yeto told him. "MY BROTHER ONE TIME DYING, SO YETO TOOK HIM THERE. IT WASN'T EASY, BUT WHEN YETO ARRIVED, FAE HEALED ALL BROTHER'S WOUNDS! NOW BROTHER LIVE HAPPILY WITH HIS WIFE WAY ON OTHER SIDE OF FAE MOUNTAIN."

So there _was_ a Great Fairy on the mountain. Link felt some hope return to him. "How far of a journey do you think it will be?"

"YETO CAN GET THERE IN DAY AND HALF. LINK ABOUT SAME. A WOLF THOUGH CAN GET THERE IN LESS THAN DAY. _"_

So if he went as a wolf, he would be able to get there sometime around early morning. However, he was slightly concerned. "I don't think I can move Ashei though. She might die if we move her."

"TALK TO FAE. SHE IS NICE, YEAH. MIGHT COME DOWN MOUNTAIN TO HELP. _"_ The big Yeti suggested. He didn't know what else to say. The tiny human seemed really important to Link and it would be sad to watch Link mourn.

"I'm going to try then." Link decided as he quickly made his way up to where his room was. He was going to need his gear if he was going further into the mountains.

"THERE IS SMALL TRIAL TO GET TO BIG FAE. BRING ANYTHING TO HELP. _"_

The Yeti translation of 'small' Link had earlier on been able to translate to 'huge ass _big_ '. So he nodded his thanks for the info and made sure to pack _everything_ he once used on his quest in order to accomplish this feat. He also had to change his blood stained clothes and to grab a new jacket- only now thankful Yeta insisted on making so many. Once ready, he was running out of the house with a short goodbye and as soon as he slammed the door shut, transformed into a wolf and shot off like a speeding arrow to where the largest mountain was.

* * *

A/N: Oh noes! What will happen to Ashei?! So, despite the fact that I might start sounding like a broken record, THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO REVIEW! I don't know if you understand the mechanics of how a story can be found, but the best stories are often the ones with a lot of reviews (I understand that this is not the case all the time, but it does make it easier when one wants to find an established story). When I first enter fandoms, I use the 'most review' filter to read the best of the best stories to get a firmer grip of the characters through others' eyes. That and not to fall into similar cliches. So every. Review. Counts.

So yes, I have decided to add the Great Fairies into this story, as you already guessed from the description. Just be aware, I added to the whole cycle, especially since the Greats in this game look _very_ different, but I used a lot of the same title mechanics as the previous games just to keep things straight. Also, I figured Yetis had a different understanding of healing, though very much the same. I see Yeta and Yeto as bilingual in a way (also not familiar with purely Hylian terms), I doubt Yetis normally speak Hylian (Though Yeta _can_ write Hylian in canon) so that is why their speech is a little broken.

So, for those that wrote me a wonderful, muse-filling review:

 **Purrloin77:** Thanks again for your wonderful reviews! It brightens my day! Hmmm, Link has been able to pull the whole double life off for years. Midna definitely helped, but I figure that if Link was sloppy, which I don't see him as, he would have been figured out years ago. So, let's see if he can pull off keeping his wolfish side a secret or not.

 **Guest:** Thank you for your review. I am glad you liked it. What did you like the most?

 **Zephyr Winds:** Thanks for your review! I am working on keeping up the awesomeness! So what do you think is going to happen next? Would love to see from your side of things!

 **Death Itself:** First of all, thanks for your input. Real input makes my day. I can see Link as an introvert as well. I mean, he lived out in the woods away from everyone else, and though he had Midna to accompany him through his journey, he didn't keep much company otherwise. I can see him as the kind of guy who _does_ need a lot of time to himself, but that doesn't mean he can't be social with around others.

See you in the next chapter.

 _~Lore_

Rose Co **lore** d Philosophies


	5. In Which Kindness Eclipses Courage

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. I'm merely using them to entertain myself and others.**

* * *

 **Arctic Wolf**

Chapter 5

 _In Which Kindness Eclipses Courage_

* * *

The mountains were always dangerous, even to the trained professional, but what made them even more fierce and unforgiving were snowstorms. It was so easy to get lost in one and unable to find one's way or even shelter from the elements. It was the mountains most fiercest aspect and that's exactly where Link found himself as he tried to push forward up the tallest mountain peek in the Snowpeak Mountains. His fur kept him warm in his lupin form, but the harsh bite of the frigid wind still managed to get past his natural defenses, leaving him nearly numb as he kept his head down, ears back, and feet still moving upwards.

If he didn't try, Ashei's life was as good as gone. He had dealt with terrible odds from time to time on his quest, but the ex-hero only wished for a small sign to lead him where he was trying to go. After all that he had done for the world, couldn't the Goddesses show him enough favor as to not have to let him watch any of his friends' lives fade before him? He had _left_ their world practically, it shouldn't be that hard of a favor to grant! But here was Ashei, on _his_ mountain home, dying with not a damn thing- other than climb a huge ass mountain and try to find a Great Fairy that _might_ help- that he could do to stop it.

He only wished to be able to _get_ to the Great Fairy's fountain _to_ ask.

Low and behold out of the mass of blizzarding snow, Link caught glimpse of a familiar form. One he had not seen since mastering the seven deadly art techniques. The glowing golden wolf with one red eye sat a ways up the hill, visible even through all the snow. The moment Link recognized the phantom lupin, it began to speak to him.

" _I will lead you up the mountain, young chosen. However, if you stray from the path I take, I will not guide you to your destination._ " The words echoed through his head, as they had long ago when the wolf use to speak to him on his quest.

Link nodded his head and took off like a shot as the ghostly wolf turned to run further up the mountain. Though he now had a reliable guide to get him there, the route was still hard and treacherous, seeing as the mountain peak seemed nearly littered with dangerous monsters that he had no choice but to leap, dodge, and flee from in favor of chasing after his guide.

The golden wolf never once slowed and none of the other monsters even seemed to pay notice to him, confirming something Link had long ago suspected- only he could see this specter. He had tried asking Midna once about her thoughts on the wolf once, but the imp looked at him funny, telling him that she had no idea what he was talking about. He explained those encounters to her- howling at the whistling stones, the other realm where he would then howl the song once more to summon the wolf to a location in Hyrule, and even the teachings in the otherworldly plane with the stalfos like warrior who taught him his most powerful moves. Midna practically told him he was insane because _none_ of that had _ever_ been witnessed by her. She had seen him howl at the stones- where he got the song she never figured out- and then he would lay down for a power nap, causing _her_ to have to scout about the area since he had _left_ them vulnerable. Even the whole 'wolf would bite my head and I would learn a new technique from a Stalfos' part she scoffed at, asking if that's when he would draw his sword and shield and start attacking the air with the move he _claimed_ to be learning at the time from a friendly Stalfos.

After that, Link came to the idea that only he could see the phantom wolf and what it projected into his mind. He never again mentioned it to anyone, seeing as it did sound a bit crazy.

The two of them journeyed up the mountain for what felt like days- though perhaps only truly a handful of hours. The wind had not lessened in their continuous climb up the mountain and the amount of Icy Keese and White Wolfos only seemed to get _worse_. After making it out of a particular bad patch of Icy Keese, having been bitten a few times by the damnable creatures as he worked hard at not losing his only guide _up_ the mountain, Link's ears flickered at a distance, storm-muffled cry for help.

At first he wasn't sure if he had actually heard the sound or if it was just the storm playing tricks on him, but after hearing it again- this time louder and more anxious than before- Link knew it was real. He paused in his run for only a small moment, realizing his mistake and dashing to keep up with the specter. He didn't have time to help. His only shot at making it up the mountain _was_ this golden wolf that would not give him a second chance if he lost sight of him.

But when the cry rang out again, Link's paws slowed as he looked over to where the call was being made. He didn't have time for this. Ashei's life was in the balance! His feet slowed and eventually stopped as he came to another conclusion, but so was this person's life. Could he really overlook the life of one person in favor of the life of another? One that's life hung so close in the balance that it may have already passed on from this plane? The once hero already knew that if he overlooked this cry for help, regardless of if his efforts to get to the Great Fairy's fountain and save Ashei's life were a success, he would forever regret not helping. Letting out an agitated growl, Link looked to where the specter was already disappearing from sight and leapt off into a dash towards the source of the cry for help.

It took only a moment to locate the poor soul in need and it had probably been a good thing indeed that he had given up his trek to help. For out in the middle of the mountain- in the _middle of a blizzard-_ was this hunched form wrapped in dark robes that, in Link's opinion, were hardly thick enough to combat the snow surrounded completely by the hugest pack of Wolfos the ex-goatherd had ever seen.

Link wasted no time galloping into the thick of it and attacking the wolfos, going first for the one that lunged off the ground and towards the unarmed individual in the raggedy robes. As a wolf with a considerably large maw due to his sheer size, it only took one well placed snap of his jaw and the White Wolfos died instantly when Link had broken his neck with his powerful mouth. He growled threateningly at the other Wolfos as their one warning to back off as he spat out the dead monster and it dissolved in a burst of black smoke now that its corrupted life couldn't hold onto the form any longer. Some of the Wolfos _did_ take a wary step back, but none of them shied away from the threat before them, foolishly all trying to take on the giant wolf twice their size.

If he had been in his human form, the wolf would have scoffed, but instead he decided to show these dumb monsters how well taken he was to this form and in the span of a second had rid himself of at least five of the wolfos with one bite. He had plenty of practice with them when he had been clearing the courtyards of the mansion of monsters and instead of it taking him three or five lunges to kill the pests, especially now that he was such much larger than they were, it only took a well placed crunch of his teeth against their necks to kill them.

Little by little the pack of Wolfos was whittle down to nothing. The hardest part for Link, in eradicating these annoyances, was the fact that a few of them did try to attack their original target instead. While Link did have to take a few blows to ensure that none made it to the defenseless form still hunched over in fright. By the time Link had snapped the neck of the last Wolfos, he had quite a few spots bleeding out a bit from where a few managed to overwhelm him briefly and bite into his flesh, but nothing serious for him. Certainly nothing being a wolf wouldn't eliminate. Monsters didn't have diseases like animals could have, so being bitten was only a painful annoyance, not a concern.

He turned to the small being, making sure the other was okay and that he sensed no blood had been drawn for the little one before he turned from the other's cowering form and started to trot away. He helped in the only way he could in this form and if he wanted to transform, he'd have to leave the small being's sight to do so first. The lycanthropic male definitely was coming back to talk to this child, not only to make sure the obvious youngling was alright and would be able to get back home safely, but to scold the child for such a irresponsible thing as to be out in the wild defenseless, with hardly enough warm clothing, and possibly for getting so lost.

He had only made it a few steps when he felt his tail being pulled. He turned around to see the long, thin fingers of the young feminine hand wrapped around his appendage. "Please." She pleaded with a soft voice. He couldn't see her expression because her hood covered her face and a scarf covered her up to the bridge of her nose. "Please don't leave me here…" She sounded ready to cry, so Link, as much as he _hated_ the idea of not being able to scold this… child, forwent his original idea and turned back to the young girl to give her a lick.

"Th-thank you." She murmured quietly as she slowly rose to her full height.

Link blinked at how small she was. She was a inch or so smaller than when Colin had been a boy before Link had started his quest. Dear Goddesses, he could probably carry her around on her back and he didn't doubt for a second that she was lighter than Midna was. What's more, her feet where bare. What an irresponsible child! What an irresponsible _mother_ she had for allowing her to traipse about in the _snow_ without proper clothes. Better yet, where _were_ her folks. He was definitely ready to give them a scare for this.

Completely unaware at his internal rage, the girl shifted from side to side. "Can… can I come with you? I'm lost and I'm trying to find my way home. I know its around here… but… the snow storm has thrown me…"

Link huffed a little at the idea of trying to find her home, but what could he do now? He couldn't leave her as exposed as she was to the elements. He would simply have to take her with him to the Fairy Fountain and hope that the Great Fairy would be nice enough to help the both of them. He grabbed onto some of her clothes gently with his teeth and tugged her towards him. She tripped at little at his tugging, caught genuinely by surprise, but when she didn't tumble over into the snow and instead landing on the wolf's warm back, she understood.

"Oh thank you, thank you Mr. Wolf!" She seemed ready to cry again and Link did his best to ignore how incredibly light she was. It was a good thing he had decided to give up his guide. This girl would have died without him. As he started forward again, the young girl clung to his fur as she rode him similarly to how Midna once did. However, instead of how he use to lunge forward to jolt the imp as his means of petty revenge, he merely kept up his fast pace, hoping for the best as he tried to remember which way he had seen the phantom wolf disappear.

The weather worsened the higher Link climbed the mountain, causing the small girl to cling more and more closer to his back as a means of keeping warm, finally, and with much heartache, Link knew he had to give up the climb for now and find the two of them a cave to stay in until the weather got better. He could only hope that Ashei could hold out until he came back with help. He kept his trek up the mountain as he looked for a cave with both his eyes and his senses. Anything at this point because he was worried the girl would get frostbite if they stayed out in the storm too much longer. There wasn't anything this high up, Link was beginning to realize. Just as he was ready to try to dig his own small cave for them, though, he caught glance of a familiar glow and froze as he made eye contact with that lone red eye.

" _You chose to be a hero despite how much simpler it could have been to heed my words and not stray out of sight. Such kindness you've done for a complete stranger when a friend of yours lays sick and dying. I will guide you once more. This time, do not deviate._ " The phantom warned and once more Link was dashing at his fastest speed towards him, hoping to get there as fast as possible to protect the young one from getting any worse in the snow.

It hadn't been as far off as Link would have thought, but the problem with the storm was that if he had not had his phantom mentor take him there personally, he would have never found the place at all. The girl breathed a sigh of relief in his ear when he entered the mouth of the cave, now that the wind wasn't blowing so bitterly upon her thin clothed form and she even sat up a bit to take in the wondrous place and Link slowly walked now that the golden ghost slowed to a trot himself.

Link still couldn't believe that he had made it. He had thought it would have taken him another day after he had lost his guide, but now he could go ask the Great Fairy for her help. Ashei would get the help she needed and he could make sure that this little girl got home safely. He thanked the Goddesses for their kindness-

-And he immediately took it back.

The golden wolf had stopped and sat in front of what _looked_ to have been the beginning of the trial for the Fairy Fountain, but the entire thing was caved in with no way for wolf paws to dig through.

He had come _all_ this way for nothing.

" _Nay, young chosen. You have already accomplished much._ " The wise ghost disclosed to him. _"While you showed Courage coming up here to this mountain peak to help your friend. You showed Kindness despite what your assistance may have costed you- saving and assisting the small one on your back despite your original plans. I don't doubt even for a second that if the Great Fairy had told you that you could only get one wish granted that you would have made sure your friend be taken care of while you continued to help this lost one yourself."_

That was all well and good, but the path before him looked like it wasn't about to magically be repaired any time soon.

 _"That is correct."_ The other beast seemed to be able to read his expression. It looked to where the rubble lied in a somewhat sad manner. " _The Great Fairy that once dwelled here is gone. Zant had managed to eradicate her- most of them, actually- to stop them from assisting you in your quest, but he did not know about their heirs. Fae live long lives and when one of the Greats pass, a new one is created in response. It is a power passed down to one of its kind that has shown the same qualities._ " The wolf looked at Link with a firm look. _"Take the young girl upon your back and give her a home with you. She can help your friend."_

That shocked the lycanthrope and he swung his head to study the small girl upon his back in a new light. She had taken off the scarf and had pulled down the hood and was meeting his gaze with her own light blue ones. Her ears were longer than a Hylian's and her face more angled despite how youthful she appeared to be. White magic lines swirled on her skin, glowing softly in the dark and her thin robes seem to melt away and instead create the multilayered wings upon her back. Platinum blonde locks of hair that glistened with multiple colors similarly to the other Great Fairy Link had seen (though her hair was green) hung down her across her chest and allowed her the level of modesty that Hyalian culture required. Her eyes showed that she too could see and hear the phantom wolf and she confirmed his words to him.

"I am indeed the Great Fairy you seemed to have been questing." Her voice was now more professional oppose to before when the young fae had been frightened. "I took over as the Great Fairy of Kindness a little more than two years ago, but I had not been on the mountain when the power had been passed down to me. I had been left unaware of what happened to my predecessor, so I began to try to find my way back here. I can see now that she is gone as is the fountain which was to be my home." Her eyes dimmed a bit at that admission and her shoulders slumped a bit. She seemed uneasy as her eyes looked away from his and she rubbed one of her arms with her other hand. "I know it may be a lot to ask, but, I am still quite young as a Great… could I truly seek haven with you as this previous chosen has spoken?"

Link gave a small woof. One that he had always used as a yes when Midna had asked him a question in this form. He didn't know if she would understand, so he nodded as well. Her face lit up in a brilliant smile as she had a bit of a blush in her happiness. "Truly?! Thank you so much!"

Link nodded again and turned to start his way _down_ the mountain. How ironic was it that he had been carting around the very individual that he was looking for _the entire time_. The Goddesses liked making fun of him- that was the only conclusion he could come to. Just as he was about to start the long trek down, the Great Fairy on his back tugged on his ears to make him stop.

"H-hey! Um, _hello_ , uh, Golden Hero, once chosen by the Goddesses… I... Ah… I think my new guardian needs to get down the mountain faster… Is there anything I can do to speed up the trip?"

The golden wolf let out a bark of laughter. _"Ha! A Great Fairy unaware of her own powers!"_

"We aren't created knowing how to use them." She grumbled, the tips of her ears turning pink in her embarrassment. "It is expected of our predecessor to teach us more than what we already knew as a small fairy- which I only retain the _informational_ _memories_ of that chosen fairy. I am a more powerful incarnate of said fairy, so while I can heal, I have no clue as to what a Great Fairy does or any personal memories of that past life. I do know I only met the Great Fairy of Kindness _once_ in my past life when she named me her heir. After that, I was sent out into the world to study the different races so I may have a better understanding of those who would come to my fountain when I _did_ awaken as a Great and start training for the day I would take over. Contrary to what you believe, the power is slowly passed from one to the other _unless_ the predecessor passes unexpectedly- like what had happened."

 _"Very well_." The phantom seemed to accept that as a viable answer. Link was practically groaning at the newly presented fact that he had basically been tricked into taking guardianship of a Great Fairy child in place of the Great Fairy who had been killed. The ghostly wolf seemed to have gleamed his irritation and sniggered in a very wolfish manner at his situation. He gave a short growl and the other wolf sobered up.

 _"Since you cannot help yourself in this matter, I shall do it for you. But only this_ once _."_ He trotted outside, Link following at his heels, and soon he sat and threw his head up to the sky howling a simple melody. F, B, D, F, B, D the notes rang out into the storm filled sky. Link stared at the other wolf skeptically as did the Great Fairy on his back, but suddenly, a brilliant golden white bird with the same glowing red eyes appeared in the sky, much bigger than the Light Spirit Eldin and it reminded Link of an Owl.

 _"Dear old friend. Take these two back to the home built long ago at the foot of this mountain. I'm_ sure _you know the one._ "

The spectral owl said nothing to the sarcastic nature of the ghostly wolf's words, but instead flapped once. A golden light surrounded both Link and his new ward and when the giant owl flapped again, they vanished from their spot in a whirlwind of feathers. Both ghosts said nothing to each other as they faded once more from the realm of the living.

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A/N: So Link has found himself the newest model of Fairy companion... a young Great Fairy! All jokes aside, she will be around, but she's not there to replace Midna, she's there because I find it hilarious (but at the same time, he is now her guardian). I will tell you guys though, I was nearly struck silly with giddiness when I got all of your reviews! Three of you in the same day, but a few more later on! But what really impressed me and just made my day was the actual feedback I got from all of you. I love hearing your thoughts on my story, I love hearing what part is your favorite and what characters I've made you change your mind about- it tells me I'm doing my job! Thank you. That makes it so much easier!

And to be honest, I was having a pretty rotten day until I got those reviews, so again, THANK YOU. I am glad you like my story, so help me by reviewing!

So, what were your thoughts on the Great Fairies? I released a little bit of my idea about their culture and I'd love your feedback on whether it was great or overdone! Also, our lively spirit has arrived, fufufufu, this won't be our old hero's last appearance, but I'm still working out the kinks to how he's going to be around more often. Also, Great Fairy of Kindness, I took the idea out of Majora. In the game there are five Great Fairies- Magic, Courage, Power, Wisdom, and Kindness. Out of all of them, Kindness is the best because she gives you the Fairy Sword- which beats the Gilded Sword and all! But I researched it multiple times because there is a Fairy Queen, the Great Fairies, and then the smaller ones with different purposes. Even in Wind Waker world (and the continuing game) there were three fairies known for their affinities towards Courage, Power, and Wisdom, while there were at least 4 Great Fairies running around giving you stuff.

In any good story, rely on Wikia. It has all the information you will need (Unless it is Star Ocean for the PS2; then you get more from playing the actual game. ARGH!).

So, for those that wrote me a wonderful, muse-filling review:

 **Purrloin77:** Haha, you are quite right, the Yetis aren't much for discretion. But who knows? As long as Link can keep to human form then there is nothing to question, no? Hehe, we will see! But I too am excited to write many misadventures myself. If you ever think of something funny you'd like Link to have to deal with, throw me a bone! Or, you know, a review/PM. I like those thrown at me more than bones or rocks.

 **Zephyr Winds:** Eeeeeeee~! I am so happy that you gave me such a compliment! Telling me that I made Yeta one of your favorite side characters made my day! I am also glad you liked Link's fur transformation. I wasn't sure how people would react to that, but I am glad you liked it!

 **ChangelingRin:** Thank you so much for your words! I try to make things as realistic as possible! I've been reading some of the romance stories and anything post Twilight game and sadly there weren't a lot that were happy. They frustrated me. Anytime something happy happened, something worse came. Yeah, I'm going to try to take this in a different direction, but if something happens, it happens. So, whatever I have planned may change with the flow of the story. Sometimes the characters will take me in a different direction than I expected.

 **RuppeeDodongo:** Thank you so much for your words! I am glad you like the cultures I've been cultivating in this story. I plan to write a few more cultures because from my research says that only Hylians have pointed ears and I've been studying the other known cultures through the Zelda Wikia and I will be filling in the gaps for whatever culture I add. I hope that you'll enjoy all of them!

 **Nohm the Inexorable:** Bwhahahaha, I was planning on updating this tomorrow, but you have flattered me so completely with your words! If you ever feel like giving me some hardcore input as I progress in this story, as long as it is constructive, I eagerly welcome it. And so far, it seems that Ashei is one of the female characters that might capture Link's interest- but Hena definitely appeared in my story without me even realizing how much Link would go fishing, so I will continue to go with the flow of the story and let the characters take you for the ride. They escape me at times. Also, I am flattered you made an account because of me! I will keep my eye out for your writing! (Also, if I ever right anything for real, I'll let you know ;D)

See you in the next chapter.

 _~Lore_

Rose Co **lore** d Philosophies


	6. In Which Kindness Heals

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. I'm merely using them to entertain myself and others.**

* * *

 **Arctic Wolf**

Chapter 6

 _In Which Kindness Heals_

* * *

When the golden light faded around the two unlikely of traveling companions, Link realized they were merely a few feet away from the steps leading up to the mansion. He let out a pleased bark as he circled about in his pleasure to have gotten such a quick trip down and bolted for the door, nearly knocking the Great from her perch upon him. He got to the door and snagged the handle with his teeth (he had replaced the knobs with handles he could used even as a wolf). He trotted quickly inside and up to the snoring Yeti still sitting by the door to the living room, in case Yeta called for him.

With a few well placed barks, the Yeti jerked awake and his eyes landed on Link as well as the little Great Fairy sitting on his back, staring wide eyed up at him.

"AH! LINK YOU FOUND THE BIG FAE!" He was genuinely pleased by the news. He quickly got to his feet as he beamed at the other's success. "YETA STILL TENDING TO LITTLE HUMAN. WIFE HASN'T SAID ANYTHING ABOUT LITTLE HUMAN DYING. GO INSIDE AND BRING BIG FAE TO YETA. YETO GO MAKE FOOD NOW THAT LINK HOME."

Link nodded and he approached the door, dealing with this door as he had the last and headed inside. Yeto was correct when he said his wife was still tending to Ashei and though there hadn't been much else that Yeta could do to heal her, it didn't mean the Yeti didn't stop trying to keep her warm and comfortable. The female Yeti turned at the sound of the door opening and her eyes brightened as she spotted the fairy on his back.

"Ah, Link, you found Big Fae, uh." She got up from sitting next to the warmly wrapped woman to approach Link and the Fairy on his back.

"Hmmm," She peered at the Great Fairy with a sharp scrutiny. "For being Big Fae, Big Fae is very small."

"I am young is all, but I can help." The Great promised as she climbed off of Link's back to make her way to the injured woman, finally allowing the lycanthrope to shift forms without knocking the poor thing off.

"She's who she says she is. The previous Great Fairy was killed, so all her power transferred over to this little one. I brought her here not only to help Ashei, but because I was asked to watch over her." Link explained. The young Great swiveled around rather alarmed at the sound of the new voice, having not seen Link change.

"You turned into a human!" Her face was that of great surprise as all sets of wings stiffened in her shock.

"You _now_ just figured out I wasn't actually a wolf?" Link was shocked that the little thing could be so dense.

"No!" Her ears were pink again as was her face. "I just thought there was a spell on you I had to break first…" She stared at him a moment before shouting. "You're really big!"

"Link brought home baby fair folk, uh!" Yeta had this look in her eyes over the fact that this Fae was so young.

Link growled at Yeta, but instead of getting into _that_ whole can of worms, he decided to focus everyone on the issue at hand. "Great Fairy of Kindness, don't you have someone that needs to be healed?"

Her ears turned pink again. "Oh right."

She turned quickly and approached the couch where Yeta had set up the ailing woman, touching her tiny fingers to the woman's forehead and focusing her powers. She lit up a bit as she concentrated on what she was doing as did Ashei when the healing energy slipped from the Great Fairy to the human woman. After a good couple of minutes, the light faded from the both of them and the little Great looked completely tired. Ashei's pallet looked a little better, but the woman did not stir or awaken from her unconscious state.

Link began to worry. "Couldn't you heal her?"

"I _did_." She retorted as she sat on a cushion by the couch, literally ready to fall asleep at any moment. "My magic healed her, but I couldn't heal her to perfect health. She won't die, but she'll still have to recover over time."

"That's never what happens when a fairy- a _small_ fairy- healed me." Link argued, not at all happy at the idea that Ashei wasn't completely better after all that.

"Hey! _Listen_! I just told you she _won't_ die." The Great yelled. "Any normal fairy wouldn't even be able to do this! I _am_ young though, so perhaps my _predecessor_ could have but she's _gone_."

"But plenty of fairies have healed me from the brink." Link argued.

"That's because you're different!" She shouted, but her voice dropped down to a exhausted state. "You were _chosen_ by the Goddesses to harbor a great power. Normal fairies can heal you as well as they can because they are merely taking their power and using _your_ power to magnify their healing arts on you. Other than you and the other chosen harborers of that great power, the smaller fairies can't heal all that well unless it is their calling."

The Fae's eyes grew heavier as she tried to stay awake, but it quickly became apparent to both Link and Yeta that the child was about to fall over asleep. It was Yeta that was tugging at Link's jacket, pointing at the small Great Fairy with those eyes of hers.

"Baby Fae needs to go to sleep in bed. Little human also needs bed to rest in, uh."

Link watched as the small Great Fairy slumped over and heaved out a sigh. He was honestly tired too. "Since Ashei is stabilized, I'll give her my bed here for now and I'll manage something for our newest addition to the mansion."

"Baby Fae is staying here?" Yeta looked all too pleased. Maybe now she'd stop swamping him with clothes and focus more on the tiny child instead. Link almost pitied the young Great. As far as he understood, clothes were more of a human thing. But then again, he would like her running around in a little more than she had, especially up here.

"I will find a place for her to set up her fountain, but yes, she'll be staying here rather than at my farm. More eyes on her here than there anyways." Speaking of which, he needed to check in with his animals to make sure they were still taking care of themselves properly and possibly fetch a few of their products for breakfast (seeing as the sun hadn't even risen yet).

Yeta seemed pleased as she nodded and decided to go tell her husband the wonderful news. Yeto was easy going and having a Great Fairy wasn't all that bad of a deal, to be honest, but the prospect of raising her was a little bothersome in Link's opinion- though it couldn't be helped. Yeta wanted a ton of young ones to raise anyways, so a few grafted into her family would be no issue with her, to which Link was eternally grateful about.

Now that the immediate danger was over, Link carefully lifted Ashei from the couch, seeing as she would need more room to properly rest in, and, rather carefully, carried his female associate up the stairs to the room he had long ago claimed for himself and set her up in his bed. Once he was sure she was settled in nicely, the young man turned and started gathering up his spare cushions, furs, and blankets into a corner of the room and made a decent nest for the small Great Fairy to sleep upon. His room was warmer than most of the other spare rooms because Yeta made sure to keep the fire going in his room as well and it was the only other place that had a bed.

Link added that to the things he would have to work on soon if Ashei was going to have to stay a while to heal up and he probably would have to help the Great Fairy of Kindness build her new fountain and whatever else the young one would need.

Link left out a long yawn. He needed to get some rest. The adrenaline from the past day or so was wearing off. However, he first needed to tuck the small Fairy into her makeshift bed and go to his farmhouse to check on his animals and get some of their produce. He let out another yawn as he headed out of his room, humming to himself about where he'd sleep, but decided he'd just drag a few of his own pieces of bedding from his other home and stay here to monitor the situation.

He went back down for the young Great and rolled his eyes at how Yeta was watching over her with those starry eyes. She was definitely going to be a good mother when she did end up with her own. He almost asked about it, but decided he'd know when he'd know and that he _didn't_ really _want_ to know. He swooped his arms down, pulling up the slumbering child (careful about those wings of hers and making sure she was up high enough that they didn't drag on the floor or that he'd accidentally step on the delicate things) and slowly turned to head back up his room with her.

"Link, when there time, Yeta would like new couch, uh. This one has much red life on it." Yeta broke out of her daydream right as he was almost out of the door and wanted to make sure she had addressed the issue.

"Sure, Yeta. I'll get to it today or tomorrow." He spoke softly, letting out another long yawn. "Probably tomorrow." He was dog tired.

"Baby Link did good job, uh." That toothy, endearing smile was on her lips. "Needs to rest too, don't forget."

"As soon as I check on my animals and eat some of Yeto's food." He promised, not even phased about the teasing at the moment. Too tired to banter back.

"Yeta will keep an eye on the two."

"Thanks Yeta."

With that he headed out of the room and up the stairs, placing the Great Fairy of Kindness on the makeshift bed and covering her up to keep her warm before leaving the room.

Going out the check on his animals wasn't very hard, but one of the cats was apparently upset with one of the cucco's who had started insulting the feline. Thus, she demanded to be taken with Link to the mansion. She promised that there were probably mice that needed to be caught there and that she refused to stay here any longer. Link was too tired to care and agreed to stop the meowing.

The animals were all fine, so he only had to restock their food, collect the products that were available, and packed up enough of what he needed so that he didn't have to keep coming back for small things while he slept at the mansion. The animals were all rather independent (besides him making sure they had enough food stocked) and wouldn't need him for more than an hour or so every few days. Lillian, his cat, made good on her claim, jumping up upon his shoulders as he walked past the kitchen table, and he took her back to the mansion. He wasn't too upset that she didn't want to stay there, seeing as he still had three other cats around to catch mice.

By the time he returned back to the mansion, the sun was coming up and the smell of Yeto's cooking wafted through the air, causing his mouth to water and his stomach to grumble at the remembrance that he hadn't eaten a few meals due to this whole disaster.

The first thing he did was drop off his things into his room, including his cat with the order not to leave the room until the Yetis knew she wasn't food. The cat practically shrugged and went to curl up next to the fairy. Once he was sure that his cat wouldn't cause problems, he took the eggs and milk he had collected and brought them into the kitchen for Yeto.

The kind giant Yeti thanked him with his words and Link was grateful that he had taught the other to not _shove_ him whenever he wanted what Link had. Instead, Yeto handed him a bowl of breakfast. The whole meal was scarfed on sight and Yeto laughingly gave him another one to sit down and eat with the two of them.

Meal times in the mansion varied. Sometimes they were quite, sometimes there was chatter, and sometimes it was loud and ridiculous with endless laughter. This morning it was quiet, seeing as they all had very little sleep and Link felt lucky enough that he had enough energy near the end to remember telling them about his cat Lillian being around. The two nodded, understanding not to think the cat as food, and once all of breakfast had been consumed (with a generous amount set aside for both the fairy and the woman incase they woke and were hungry), all three of them headed off to their beds.

As Link entered his room, he took off his coat, no longer needing it, slipped out of his shoes, his gear, and most of his clothing sans his long underwear, a pair of wool socks, trousers he used to sleep in, a wool turtleneck sweater he designated for the same purpose, and, of course, the collar he wore underneath the turtleneck. He left his things where they landed in his room and flopped down his temporary bedding in the far corner of his bedroom before falling into tired sleep.

He didn't even care that what he told Hena was true. He snored like a bear without a care of who it might have bothered. He deserved as much.

* * *

A/N: And that is the story about how Link saved the life of Ashei. She's not out of the woods entirely yet, but I put her in the description so you all know she's not going to kick it just yet (or ever). I did tweak the healing abilities of the fairies a bit. I always thought that 'healing magic' is quite the easy out to any grievous injuries given. Its almost like a cheat. 'Oh no! fatal injury' walks it off because fairy heals the wound. Boo. For Link, yes, I agree, they can heal him from the brink, but I already attributed that to his own power given to him by the Goddesses. Plus, with a live in Great, there would be no suspense if there is another injury like that again.

I don't seem to be super chatty in my notes today. I had to shovel snow for 5 hours today and I am just dead tired, but at the same time, I wanted to be able to give you something to look forward to.

So, for those that wrote me a wonderful, muse-filling review:

 **Purrloin77:** So as a incarnate of a different fairy- she's two years old. As a small fairy, well, she had been over 100 years of age, that much I will tell you, but now that she is reborn, she's quite young, so she sort of needs a doting family to raise her in the place of the Great Fairy that was to mentor her. So, while it would have been an interesting idea, she's not at a point to where a relationship of any sort past father-daughter could be feasible. I hadn't thought of it before though, and since she will be raised rather unconventional, she might enter a relationship with _someone_ down the road, but I will let her take me on that path when she's ready (But don't get me wrong, that conversation would have been hilarious). Also, I will get to the point about the Queen Fairy. You pointing that out made me think, and you'll love the plot point your idea concocted (or at least I hope you will).

 **ChangelingRin:** I have been completely obtuse. I just realized who _you_ are. I am currently in the process of reading your story (again), by the way, and I will be getting to reviewing your chapters as soon as I can! I love Dimensional Links so much, honestly, that it inspired some of the attitudes of some of my characters (Midna being playful and mischievous was all due to your vision of her). Sorry, just had to put that there. It's one of those 'Senpai noticed me' things... Yes, Ashei is there for a purpose, but you will have to wait on the reason, but yes, this is one of his Greats that pester him. ;)

 **Niacdoial:** I know I got back to you mostly in the review, but I do hope that I cleared some things up in this chapter. Also, I have picked up the fact that people think she was not thrilled about her home being on the mountain. No, it was more about the unease of the situation. Her home, the only one she knew she had to fall back onto, is now gone and its like, being told you are going to be given a home, so you pack everything up to move and when you get there, you find out a force of nature destroyed it. Now you don't know what to do next because there had been no 'what if' back up plan because that house was suppose to be there. She's just a little stressed out and scared, but also has to be professional even though she has no clue what she's doing because no one trained her formally yet.

 **Nohm the Inexorable:** I know I mentioned it to you in a PM, but I did want everyone to know I did fix those mistakes you caught. Thank you for pointing them out. As for is the Shade knew she was out there, I will let him explain it when he feels like it. ;) Until then, collect my small clues and hints to what might be going on with this Great. Also, I think you are the only one that pointed out that the owl was indeed Kaepora Gaebora. The song was the Song of Soaring from Majora's Mask, and, let me tell you, it was really surprisingly hard to find any written notes for that song. I know it wasn't the most elaborate song that Nintendo has written for the series, but I was just lucky to get anything on it. And for Yeta... oh, she's going to eventually have a field day with these two. But she's not so determined that she pushes their wariness to the side to get what she wants... right away... Yeta always wins. Remember that.

See you in the next chapter.

 _~Lore_

Rose Co **lore** d Philosophies


	7. In Which a Phantom Explains a Few Things

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. I'm merely using them to entertain myself and others.**

* * *

 **Arctic Wolf**

Chapter 7

 _In Which a Phantom Explains a Few Things_

* * *

The mist that surrounded his feet told him that he was back into a plane of another state of existence. The room was his, but the mist that danced around his feet was not something that occurred naturally within the mountains, let alone his room. Even the air felt stifled, as if there was no movement within the air- like it was frozen in time. Even the room held a blue hue and the fire in the fireplace didn't even crackle. It was like all of time stood still outside the mist that danced unnaturally about his boots regardless of there being no air flow.

Link glanced about the room, looking for the familiar form of either the wolf or the Stalfos, but instead was surprised to see a form more familiar to him. Though there were a few slight variants between the man sitting on his trunk, one foot pulled up to act as an arm rest as the other was firmly on the ground, there was an uncanny resemblance between this other man and Link's own rippling reflection in Hena's pond. This man looked like Link, but not.

There was a few strands in his hair, which was also tucked into a ponytail at the nape of his neck but barely long enough to fit into the hairband, that were streaked white with age. Even his beard had a few streaks of the silver white, though the man himself didn't portray the age his facial hair gave away. He was a bit broader in the chest than even Link, poised with an air more warrior like than Link, who personally likened himself to that of a hunter. And, despite the fact that he wore the same garb that Link had fallen asleep in, the biggest difference between this man and himself was the long scar running down his right eye and the deep red glow of the other.

This was the shade's true form, Link quickly surmised.

Link studied the other a bit, picking out more little differences as he did while the phantom's eye never wavered from what he was quietly observing with a melancholy look painted on his way too similar face. Link could nearly recognize the facial expression as one he often pulled himself. So, out of curiosity, the younger hero followed the shade's line of sight to see what he was staring so intently at.

It was the little Great. The phantom was watching the Great Fairy as she slept blissfully on the pile of pillows and blankets Link had provided for her.

The living hero wanted to speak, but as he opened his mouth to break the silence, the other beat him to it. " _I had little regrets in my life, but, for the few I did, they were mighty and powerful. My soul has long been cleansed of the grief these regrets brought, but only by righting them, can I press truly press forward with the calling my deities have given me._ "

"You guided her up that mountain, just as you did me. You tested me in place of the dead Great, didn't you?" Link might not be as booksmart as Shad, but not even Midna could accuse him of being obtuse. There was no way that he had happened upon the young Great as he had. Too happy coincidence for him to even accept.

" _I may have guided her a bit._ " He revealed, a small playful smirk tugging at his lips as he cast his lone eye upon Link's form. " _Just at the end, really. I watched over her for nearly her entire voyage, but I had to spend my time between you and her in the beginning. She really came a long way all by herself and had almost made it there had it not been for that blizzard._ "

A blizzard that had come from seemingly no where, now that Link thought about it. Ugh, he had gotten played so easily. He chose to ignore that over something else that bothered him. "She said she had become the new Great two years ago, why did it take her so long?"

 _"She wasn't in Hyrule and, when her predecessor died, all that power filled her- changed her. It was overwhelming. A gigantic shock to her system and she was left immobile and defenseless for a long time. Even now, her new form, her new powers are alien and strange to her. She made her entire journey as far from human sight as much as possible, frightened and alone._ "

The living ex-hero now cast his own gaze at the child Fae's sleeping form. She looked so young, and, from what he had gleamed, she was _very_ young _for a Great Fairy_. She had knowledge, yes, but she had none of her old personal memories. She had basically reverted back to that of a child, unable to understand her capabilities and unable to take care of herself correctly. What's worse was she had the _informational_ memories of a past life, but was unsure of her own nature- her own personality- or possibly unaware of what kind of individual she was. Her journey was to be long and lonely without the guidance of another like herself- the guidance denied to her when Zant murdered her predecessor.

So, despite the fact that he knew very little about magic and raising anything that wasn't a human child, Link understood that he was all that she would have as she tried to make this difficult transition into being a fully realized Great Fairy. Well, him and the Yetis.

He sighed, accepting this new twist to his daily life as easily as he had accepted the fact that he was the bearer of the Triforce of Courage, a lycanthrope within the light of the Twilight Realm, and needed to save Hyrule if he were to protect and save his loved ones. However, there was simply one last thing that bothered him in all this. "Just, tell me… You didn't lure Ashei into the mountains so she could be the catalyst for my impromptu trip up the damn mountain to find the Great Fairy, right?"

" _I would never put another's life in harm. Whatever her reasons for being up here, they are private and only known by her alone. Besides, I could have easily lured you up there myself when I felt the time had come._ " The specter sneered at the very idea of something so underhanded, but he collected himself as that smirk curled back onto his lips. _"Though I am not one to ignore such an opportunity like the one I had been given. The moment I sensed you heading up the mountain and understood the intention behind it, I took full advantage of the circumstance. I apologize for any grief, however, that my test may have stirred. I could gleam you were searching for the Great Fairy of Kindness but the reason beyond someone needed healing was not something I could observe._ " His eye seemed to glow as he spoke his next cryptic sentence. " _My eye can only tell me only so much of the  
_ truth _behind one's intent._ "

So the shade had not been watching him until he had been climbing the mountain. He wasn't omnipotent nor omnipresent, though it seemed he could see one's true intentions by his unnatural sight. He had to either be summoned if he was too far away, only to be met at a specific location, or he had to travel like any other traveler, one paw in front of the other.

 _"I can practically see you dissecting my entity with your thoughts alone._ " The shade laughed smugly. " _Your face is too easily read, especially since it shares so much in common with my own._ "

Link wasn't abashed by being caught, instead, rather, opening his mouth to ask his question, but the Shade waved his hand, silencing him with the motion. _"I will be coming around to check on our dear little Great. Perhaps then I will be more in the mood to answer any such questions about myself. For now, I must go. I can only hold this realm for so long before I must release it. Besides, there are other Greats out there lost and there are few eternal entities I wish to visit._

" _So for now…_

 _"It's time for you to wake up, Link."_

* * *

A/N: Sorry I've been gone! I've had this written, but then the week of hell started at work and someone had the bright idea that **I'd** be great as the temporary lead. No. I did fine, but I like being Minion Kevin. I will save my people, I will lead if I _have_ to, but I want my 'Boss'.

Anyways, I know a lot of you want Ashei to wake up and I'm working on it, but all these other characters seem to want some time of their own in my brain and shove their way to the front, like Hero's Shade. Asshole. But, hey, I love him. So there are a few things he says that are worth noting, but I'm not going to tell you what! Also, a few things about the Shade himself that I pointed out, which again, happy hunting to see what that might be. Tell me your thoughts and your theories, I love to know if you guys are close, on the spot, or far from it.

Also, I am going to start to update this story at least once a week opposed to everyday, that way I will always have a little more written than I have out to the public and keep on a consistent updating schedule, now that I have a couple of chapters out now. I was thinking of Mondays, but if the mass majority tell me they want a different day, let me know and I will change it.

So, for those that wrote me a wonderful, muse-filling review:

 **ChangelingRin:** I am glad that you liked my fairy idea! I hope you continue liking it because I really want to use a lot of characters that weren't really developed in this game (or other games with some characters that might appear) and develop a real personality for them that people can appreciate. The Great Fairies are just the first.

 **Zephyr Winds:** Hero of Babysitting indeed. He always seems to have some sort of small person in his care that he needs to watch over and manage a bit. Not saying Midna was a child, but she was mischievous! Also, thank you for the permission to use that wonderful calendar you created, I don't know if I might end up using it, but if I do, I will make sure credit is given where credit is due!

 **Nohm the Inexorable:** I always enjoy your reviews! I can't say much here because most of what we ended up talking about was over private messages, but you, my friend, are sharp and witty.

 **Juanpablobro:** I am glad that you like the characters I have chosen. Everyone knows Zelda and Midna and maybe even a bit about Ilia and Telma, but what about those people who really only had a few sentences but where made out to be interesting or important? They are going to be in this story too.

 **Jon Voris:** Well! I am glad you like it so much! Thank you for reviewing! And thank you for such a kind review! Well, I don't want to leave you dying, so he's the next part of the story! Hopefully I will get the next part out on time!

 **Guest:** Thankyou-ness

See you in the next chapter.

 _~Lore_

Rose Co **lore** d Philosophies


	8. In Which a Great Fairy Talks a Lot

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. I'm merely using them to entertain myself and others.**

* * *

 **Arctic Wolf**

Chapter 8

 _In Which a Great Fairy Talks... a Lot_

* * *

"Hello? Link? Wake up! It's time to get up!" Small little fingers shook at his shoulder as he tried to bury his face back into his pillow. The dreamscape he had visited in his slumber left him groggy, or was that because of how little sleep he had? He was too tired to care, honestly. The tiny creature leapt on him, getting a short grunt from him before he groaned some more and buried his head with another pillow and locked it into place with one of his arms. He could feel the little thing, to which was obviously his new ward, tugging at it as she spoke annoyed with his unwilling attitude.

"Yeta sent me to get you! _Liiink_ , get up!" He gave a grumpy grunt as he ignored her commands. He was dog tired and no oxymoron of a fairy was going to get him to move when he didn't want to.

She was practically bouncing on him, he could even feel her wings flickering angrily about as she managed to rip his pillow out of his grip. " _Hey_! C'mon! Did Hyrule's destiny really rest on the shoulders of such a lazy man?!"

Oh _great_ , this was just like all those times _Midna_ woke him up. Complain, complain, complain. Then abuse her ability to teleport him to dump him straight into Zora's Domain when they weren't presently somewhere critical. He hardly slept in and both Midna and this child Great made it sound like being slow to wake up was a sin. There had only been _one_ time it had costed him anything, and, if Link could say anything in his defense, the idiot Bulblin got the worst of it after Link got over the initial shock of pain.

"I'll have you know there were times when I didn't sleep for nearly five days back then." Link grunted out as he forced himself into a more upright sitting position, throwing the small Great off his back as she had no time to compensate for the sudden movement. He glared a bit at her, still grumpy at the rude awakening and the fact that the shade had shut him down before he could ask all his inquiries.

"You know, as little as I can remember, I do know that Hylians- most people, actually- need at least a five or more hours to sleep. So the fact that you _claim_ to have been awake for a good handful of days was probably very dangerous for you to do." She rolled about for a bit, continually catching her wings under her weight as she tried to right herself. Eventually Link pitied her enough and slipped a hand around her waist, pulled her off of herself and helped her into a more comfortable sitting position with wings as long and multitudinous as hers were.

"Let's just say I probably have a lot of Oocca to apologize to for _many_ different things I did in my sleep depravity and leave it at that." He hadn't slept the entire time he was up in the city of Oocca. The dragon had put him off and even then, there was something disquieting about the floating land that aggravated his sixth sense and caused his insomnia the entire time he was there. Midna hadn't even complained when he pretty much stumbled tiredly to Lanayru's holy grounds and passed out for the rest of the day from his exertion. He didn't remember too much about back then, but he did remember pots, grabbing Oocca improperly, and other… things…. Yeah, he had a _lot_ he needed to eventually apologize for. _Eventually_.

As if sensing the heavy burden he once bore from his quick reverie into that time, the Great rubbed one of her shoulders awkwardly as she cast her glance downward. "Sorry, I don't know why I said that. You're not lazy." She bit her lip a bit before she continued speaking. "There is just… something awfully familiar about you and sometimes words just fall out of my mouth before I have time to think of what they are."

"Perhaps I am a descendant of someone you knew? Some dashing rancher who saved you once from the sloppy wet kisses of an overly affectionate goat? Or saved you from drowning in a carton of milk you may have fallen into? Possibly saved you from the curious, playful nature of a cat? Probably barked at the cat then gave chase, if he was one of _my_ relatives." Link gave her quite the wolfish lopsided grin and wagged his eyebrows in good nature, causing the small Great to break out into a fit of giggles.

"I don't think I was ever around animals much!" She grinned prettily, her wings perked up in her glee as well as her ears. She was such a pretty looking child when there was jubilation in her features, Link noted, but he could also see pain hidden within her smile. "I wish I could remember, but I _can't_. There's something about you, but the ordeal leaves the chosen fairy with a nearly blank memory." Her mood sobered a bit as she looked at her hands solemnly. "It's like, I can tie the laces of a boot or look at a book and am capable of reading it properly, but the memory of how I know those things- the memory of learning those things- it's not there. I know I'm the Great Fairy of Kindness and that my fountain is- err, _was_ \- on top of Snowpeak Mountain, but I don't remember much else. I know the names of lands, beasts, monsters, fauna, places, kingdoms, and even the names of important figureheads and the basic politics of both human and fae… But I can't tell you if it's firsthand or secondhand or what. It's just there. The knowledge. That's all that's left and yet, I have a feeling, that this was something I had wanted… to forget my life before."

"Do you remember _your_ name?" Link asked, hoping that perhaps that was one of the things that stuck.

"I am the Great Fairy of Kindness. I need no other name." She shook her head dismissively.

Link gave her a very somber look. He could understand the feeling of wanting to forget, but it wouldn't do anyone good if he did. What had happened had happened and forgetting would not make those actions truly go away and if he did forget, the world ran the risk that his previous foes might rise again -or even new foes rise from the ashes of those he had slain- and he wouldn't be there, ready to fight. Mistakes were made to learn from and only a fool forgot past mistakes just to repeat them again and again.

This Great Fairy had gotten her original wish, but she now mourned the loss of the memory. Even if she had wanted to forget, the cost was high. This new life that had sprung from the process was grasping for what little she could as a way to feel even the least bit safe within her own skin. Link pitied her, but he also now understood why he had been asked to watch over her.

"Well then, Little Great," he slowly was pulling himself up so that they could start moving towards where Yeta would be. A change of the subject was something he could see she wanted anyways. "Let's go see Yeta about what she wanted from me. It is probably breakfast." He furrowed his brow as he looked down at the little thing who silently got up alongside him. "Do fairies even _eat_?"

"Not the little ones… They draw from the magic in the spring from which they dwell. My fountain would have been akin to that for me…" She murmured as she rubbed her arm, looking at the pillow pile under her bare feet. "But without my fountain to provide for me… I have found that I need food and drink, though nothing I've eaten has really impressed me."

"Uh-oh, no picky eaters." Link teasingly scolded her, trying to lighten the dim mood of the young Great. He put one of his big hands in her hair and mussed it up, eliciting a 'Hey!' in response as she tried to duck away. "Yeto feeds us well and anything he places in front of you, you try to finish. Understand?"

"Yes, Link." She scowled at him for what he had done to her hair, but she understood where he was coming from. Food should never be wasted, especially up here.

"Good." He began to lead them from the room, glancing over to where Ashei was sleeping quietly. "Now, let's check up on Ashei and then see about trying to dig around that fuzzy brain of yours for your name."

"I said I am the-"

"-Great Fairy of Kindness, yeah, yeah, but I am not calling you that all the time, especially when you proceed to grate my nerves." He approached Ashei and observed her carefully. Her skin tone was looking better and she was breathing easily, though she looked a bit flushed, which was better than before. Link continued to talk as he observed, only in a hushed tone as not to stir the recovering woman. He even pressed the back of his hand to her forehead to see if her fever had broken. Not yet, but she wasn't too too warm. He was just glad her temperature had risen from its hypothermic state prior. "I need to call you something other than that if I am to truly be your guardian and I doubt the Yeta and Yeto will always want to call you that- unless you don't mind being called Little Big Fae for the rest of your life."

"Oh…" was the quiet response of his little ward. He turned to see her light blue eyes staring at the floor as her wings drooped. "Let me think about that…"

So she _did_ know her name. He could tell by her stance alone that her name wasn't forgotten, but instead an uncomfortable topic. It was almost like one life had been born at the cost of another life and the new life would be taking on the previous life's very identity- if one claimed the name of the extinguished life. It seemed the little Great was at a crossroads of whether or not she truly wanted to claim that name or start anew. She was possibly nothing like the tiny fairy that had preceded her. Did she want a fresh start or cling to the last piece of a life she couldn't even recall? That was her hesitance, Link could see it and he could understand.

"If you don't feel comfortable, I can always name you." He gave he a teasing smirk, hoping to elicit a smile of some sort from her. He left his spot by Ashei to start heading towards the door, the young Great following like a little duckling. "But you aren't going to like any name I give you, _Small Fry_."

" _Hoi_! Don't call me that!" She argued, but didn't do anything more than stomp those tiny little feet all the way down to the kitchen when Link merely _laughed_ at her demand.

Despite the fact that she was trying to show her displeasure through her angry stomps, her marching hardly made any more sound than her regular steps and _nothing_ compared to the weight of Link's gait as he leisurely made his way down to the stairs. It only made him laugh harder.

It had been so long since he had anything akin to a child around his presence that he had forgotten how much they amused him. He had always found the village children a joy to play with and had always wanted a lot of kids of his own one day, but, after the whole Twilight campaign and his move here, he had been resigned to never really having kids of the _human_ variety to rear (Yeti, yes; human, no).

A little Great Fairy to raise wouldn't perhaps be the _worst_ thing to happen in all of this mess. Besides, Yeta and Yeto would be around to help when he wasn't around and it wasn't like she was completely reliant on him for _everything_. She was _almost_ an adult and a child merged into one. Well, he chuckled when her stomping caused her step upon her own wing and nearly eat the floor had he not had the reflexes to catch her, more child than adult in matters of experience.

She was blushing profusely as she dangled in his hold. One arm curled around her waist as he decided to walk her down the stairs less she step on her own large wings again and really hurt herself the next time.

"Haven't you been prancing around with those wings for at least two years?"

"Prancing is not the word I'd use…" She mumbled, the tips of her long, pointed ears a fine rosy color as was the rest of her face.

"Can't you make them smaller?" Link couldn't help but ask. He reached the bottom of the stairs and gently put her back onto her clumsy toes.

She wobbled a bit, but now that her wing was not caught underfoot, a semblance of grace reappeared within her. "Yes, no, sorta…" She twisted her fingers a bit as she admitted the painful truth. "I _can_ , but I mess up often and make them even bigger and if I'm not paying attention, they default back into their default size…"

The lycanthrope could tell that currently these awkwardly large wings were her 'default' form. "How about that neat trick you used when I first met you. I thought they were some sort of swaddling cloth."

"I was cold…"

"And you have no clue how you managed it." Pieces of this nightmare assignment were coming slowly together. He took it back. Raising her to be a proper Great Fairy was going to be a living hell.

"There have been days where necessity drew forth things I _still_ don't even know how to replicate." She grumbled as she looked embarrassed by her inability to control her own magic. "So after awhile, I just went with it because what else was I supposed to do?"

"What was your plan for when you finally made it to your fountain?!" He couldn't help raise his voice a bit, half afraid of her answer.

"Pray to whichever of the three goddesses that would listen that nobody would come to _my_ fountain for help- at least not for the next 100 years or so while I tried to figure this out on my own."

"But you healed Ashei! That was magic."

"Even a small fairy knows how to heal." She shrugged, not at all optimistic about her situation. It wasn't making Link hopeful either. "It wasn't my strong suit, but I know even I could heal back then."

"Isn't there anyone who could possibly be of any help to train you?" There had to be at least _one_ magical fae that could. "What about the one in the desert?"

" _Maybe_ the Great Fairy of Courage, she was the only one of us that had formal training, but, her magic is a bit… different."

"Combative magic?" He guessed, trying to think of what would make her unideal to teach others.

"More like time and space sort of magic. She can't even _heal_ and it's the most basic of any form of fae magic." The fae shook her head the more she thought about it, wrinkling her nose even at her conclusion. "No, she can not teach her magic."

Well that explained a few things, especially when her rewards mainly had involved releasing fairies into the four sacred spirits' ponds. Her fairy tears flowed out of a fountain and never once did she do more than look at his wounds and pretend not to see them.

"How do you know any of this?" Wasn't her memory shot?

"Informational knowledge." She looked up at him, tapping the side of her head. "I have no clue how I felt about her, but I do know she'd be useless as a mentor of any sort. Bet she doesn't leave her fountain for any reason at all."

"Okay, if not her, then who could teach you?" All the other Greats had been killed, was that not what the phantom hero told him?

"Well," her blue eyes darted about as she squirmed a bit in his gaze. "If we could _find_ the Queen Fairy, I bet she'd be able to help…"

"I'm sensing a 'but' statement coming up." Link sighed as he braced himself for the news.

"No one has seen her in _decades_. Unless she resurfaced in the last two years, I have no clue where the Fairy Queen has traipsed off to."

"A powerful, winged woman with magic practically swirling on her skin shouldn't be too hard to miss either…" Link grumbled.

"Oh, no, even when she was around her kind, she had enough power to look like anything she wanted." The young fae shook her head.

The ex-hero stared at her with a bland stare as everything slowly started to connect in his mind. "So you have a _Fairy Queen_ of whom is not present because she changed her form and wandered away and you have no clue what she'd look like now or even be. Basically, she can be any girl in any part of Hyrule."

"Oh no," that platinum blonde mass of hair gracefully flowed as the Great shook her head. Why she looked so calm, Link wasn't sure. Perhaps this was just a long accepted fact about their apparent monarchy? "Just because Great Fairies take this form, doesn't mean we necessarily have to _keep_ this gender- however, it is tradition and those that are chosen honor tradition. Our people are, in actuality, asexual. We started to pick our gender after a while because humans make it seem so interesting, but a boy fairy is only a boy fairy because he want to be a boy- same with girl fairies. However, our default pronoun is feminine because most of us _prefer_ it. If a fairy prefers otherwise, they will politely let you know- if they feel it necessary."

"So what you are saying is…" As fascinating as it was to learn that fairies were all technically genderless -something he had never known before, if he were to be honest. However, dread pooled to his stomach as he came to the conclusion about their last viable teacher for the poor, young Great.

"Our Queen could be not simply any _girl_ in Hyrule, she could be anyone. Though, to be fair, she has always appreciated and prided herself on her femininity, if my knowledge recalls." She finished with a heavy sigh. " _Perhaps_ I would be able to recognize her aura, but I would have to get very close to be able to sense her."

Link pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to calmly keep himself from getting a headache. It was too early and he had slept too little to care anymore about this topic. He wanted nothing more than to drop it and pick it up when it became a necessary point in his life. He and this fairy would cross that bridge only when they had to. For now, his priorities were eat, help pick out place for fountain, start working on fountain, check on Ashei, and get Ashei home as soon as he could. In that order. _Later_ he'd care about getting the Great trained.

"Let's just…" He started talking once more, rubbing his forehead with the fingers of one hand. "I need to eat."

"I suppose my body also requires nutrients as well…" The little Great sighed.

The two of them had been standing before the kitchen door for sometime now, having been caught up in their conversation. As they entered, both Yeta and Yeto were already eating, but greeted them happily as Link ordered the little Great to sit by the female Yeti as he grabbed both of them food to eat. He nearly groaned with delight at the scent of rabbit stew simmering in one of the large cauldrons as the other one held a nice warm portage for breakfast, thick with goat milk and wild oats, speckled with spices like cinnamon, and sticky with honey. There was also a few other options for breakfast that the ex-hero would choose for himself on top of the portage, but for his new ward, he filled a small bowl of portage for her.

To be honest, Link had no clue if she even ate meat (that could be sacrilegious for all he knew of Fae culture), so he figured he'd have to take things slow and see what being a fae meant for her diet wise.

As he set her food before her with a spoon already in the bowl and watched as she took her first small, unsure bit before he went to go get his own. She looked wary of the food at first, but with simply a small mouthful, her wings perked a bit and her eyes lit up while she eagerly went for a second mouthful. Yeta, who had been watching her with a motherly fervor, looked pleased at the young fae's appetite. The once hero himself was pleased, as he finally was able to go and get his own food, that her self-proclaimed disinterest in food had possibly only been because she hadn't ever eaten _good_ food. Even Yeto seemed pleased that she liked his cooking. A male yeti culinary skills were his very pride in being able to feed his family well.

After breakfast, which had taken a while as the young fae was taken up into a whirlwind of inquiries from Yeto and Yeta, mostly about what foods she liked and when Yeta could take her measurements (the young blonde looked unsure, but she agreed because she didn't know how to say no to that face Yeta _always_ pulled to get her way) and even what it was like to be a big fae. Most of her responses were similar to what she and Link had spoken about earlier, but then, the biggest question came up just as Link had finished his last mouthful of the stew.

"What we call little Big Fae?" Yeta asked so kindly, she had already been gently touching the young Great (something Yetis did to familiarize themselves with their family members and to display their affection and acceptance).

She looked uncertain as to what her answer should be, still caught up in the same indecision that she had earlier when Link had asked, so, being that he was so nice, the lycanthrope male decided to get her out of that one.

"She's still deciding, Yeta." Link told the Yeti woman. "Apparently names are extremely sacred to them and they have to pick just the right one for themselves, so when she's decided, she will let us know."

It wasn't exactly the full truth, but it wasn't a lie either. From what he had gleamed, their titles were important and none gave their names unless necessary- meaning they were sacred to the fae. He might not be as educated as Shad, but after having to deal with intelligent monkeys, Gorons, Zoras, Yetis, Oocca, Twilis, Bulblins, Spirits of Light, and a handful of fairies, he had picked up a few things about observing cultural norms and mores. One of the small perks of his travels was that he had seen much of other societies and cultures to know how to pick up on such minutiae.

Yeta looked at him, her eyes lighting up as at toothy smile overcame her features. "Ah! Okay, Link." Yeta was always excited about learning new things. She looked back down and petted the Great's hair once more. "We will wait for little Big Fae to decide then, uh!"

"Thank you." The fae spoke softly and, to whom, Link wasn't sure, but he could tell she was grateful for there being no pressure for her to decide."

"Well, as fun as this is," Link yawned a bit and stretched out his spine, pleased at the warm pull of muscles in his body at the action. "I need to help situate our little newcomer." He peered an eye open, having had closed them when he had been pleasantly stretching, and peered at Yeta. "I need to quickly clean up a bit before then, so why don't you and our little Great start working on getting her fitted for clothes?"

"Uh!" Yeta's eyes lit up even more and the blonde fae looked very unsure suddenly about her circumstances.

"That's not necessary…" She mumbled as she shot a pleading look to Link. "Fae have little need for clothing."

"Well, normally I'd honor your tradition, but we are in the Snow Peak Mountains and I saw you shivering in the snow, so, I'm going to have to insist on you having proper attire for this environment." Link's eyes sparked with mischief as he added, "Besides, Yeta's always wanted to sew clothes for little girls." And anything to keep Yeta off him constantly about new clothes and outfits was a goddessend. He really only needed a new coat to replace the one Ashei's blood had ruined.

Speaking of Ashei… "Also, Yeta, would you mind making sure Ashei is doing well throughout the day. I don't know when she'll wake, but I would rather not have her alone when she does."

"Yeta can do that Link." The female yeti agreed happily. "I will sit by her as I work on little Big Fae's clothes." Possibly even new clothes for Ashei if Link could properly read between the lines with his Yeti companion.

"YETO GOING TO GO HUNT NOW. WILL BE BACK TO MAKE DINNER." Yeto announced, pleased at how happy their odd arrangement with Link made his wife so happy. While she had been happy with just Yeto before, he could see that her new ability to contribute to their patchwork family made her even moreso. While Yeto could be witty and liked conversation at times, he often enjoyed watching his wife blossom in this more social environment. He was glad he had brought her here.

"Thanks Yeto, the food was wonderful." Link finally stood and began to take the dishes around him to the kitchen. "Would you like me to wash the dishes?"

"NO, LEAVE YETO'S KITCHEN ALONE. LINK BREAKS THINGS, LIKE YETO'S POTS, TOO OFTEN TO BE TRUSTED. YETO ONTO LINK. LINK IS A POT BREAKER."

Link chuckled guiltily as he set his dishes back down. Break the guy's pot one time to get a strange, lost Oocca out of it and he _never_ let you forget it. It's not like he had broken anything else afterwards, but the damage had been done. Link was allowed to get food, bring food, and touch the knives, but dishes, after use, were off limits.

It was fine, though. Link hated washing dishes _anyways_.

With a quick, taunting smirk aimed towards his new ward's pleading expression to be saved from Yeta, Link excused himself and started his way back into his room. He tried to be quiet, which, when outside he could be as light-footed as a rabbit, but it oddly didn't translate well inside and his heavy booted feet could be heard no matter how gentle he attempted to make his steps. It amused him at times, but since he wasn't worried about accidentally chasing off prey, he didn't care if his footfalls sounded under his steps. He was a big man and heavy to boot, if Hena's angry comments were anything to go by when he purposely and playfully dropped all his weight on the small woman when they would be roughhousing.

He entered his room and gave a quick glance towards Ashei's sleeping form to make sure that she was still out- which she was- of it before turning around and digging through his closet as he peeled away his turtleneck and long underwear. He had a basin near his wardrobe at all times and a picture of water readily available with a quick clothe bath until he could make a journey down the mountain and abuse the warmer water at Hena's pond.

He poured the water into the basin and used some soap on a wash clothe he kept by the station and lathered it up, washing the soapy cloth over his arms and chest, careful of the small welts he had from the wolfos bites he had received when helping his Great Fairy ward. They were pink puckers against his skin and would probably close up without a scar, but until then, they were a bit tender. Including the fact that the first bear he had fought had managed to bruise his side a bit, he washed a little slower to avoid irritating his battered body.

For the most part he was use to it. Two years of questing didn't leave him without a fair amount of wounds and a good dozen scars on his torso alone from the near death experiences he had overcome. It was one of those things people forgot to mention about quests. Save the kingdom, be a hero, oh, and nearly get your arms lopped off by Darknuts, getting shot at with fire arrows at every convenient moment for a Bulblin, fighting large cursed blades in a haunted colosseum, invisible scythes swung at you by floating lanterns -oh those are invisible _poes_ only _seen_ through an animal's _senses_ \- and don't forget those friendly winged Lizardfos in sky cities who want to run you right through with their swords. As good with a blade as Link had become, there had been a reason why he eagerly reintroduced himself to the perks of archery shortly after it had been gifted to him by the Gorons.

He soon was done washing his upper half and rinse and toweled himself off before he began to strip himself of his lower garb. He had to look at where he had been bit by the wolfos on the legs to make sure there was no inflammation or signs of infection. While monsters normally didn't _give_ diseases, infections weren't necessarily caused by the initial bite, but rather the bacteria that might have gotten into the wound afterwards. And, besides, wolfos weren't very clean animals.

Lillian was rubbing against his legs as he leaned against his dresser and carefully began to pull his boots off. He was always careful of not stepping on the cat as he put his feet back down on the floor, and just as he was about to strip off his pants and the rest of his longjohns, his head jerked over to where his ears picked up a forced cough.

His blue eyes meeting the wide amber brown eyes of the very awake, very alert woman lying in his bed.

 _Damnit_. The goddesses _had_ to be laughing at him.

* * *

A/N:So, after I said every Monday, I contracted a horrible case of writer's block. Yup, sorry this was late, but where I had originally plotted to take this took a bit of a turn because some _fairy_ doesn't like to stop _talking_. Fufufufufu, don't worry. The Great Fairy will be revealing her name soon, but I have a feeling most of you already know her name. Tell me what your guess is. Always love hearing from you all.

Also, longer chapter because of the fairy! Fufufufufu.

A special thanks to **_Nohm the Inexorable_** for pre-reading the chapter and saving me from his critics _after_ I posted! Now I don't have to keep going back into my file and correcting mistakes that he easily catches. Though he has not posted anything in his own page yet, he has been filling my muse by writing silly little shorts about Arctic Wolf that I've enjoyed way too much. Fueled me to get to a few characters!

So, for those that wrote me a wonderful, muse-filling review:

 **ChangelingRin:** Yeah, the last one ended up a little short. Hope this makes up for it XD

 **niacdoial:** Thank you again for your comments and your pm, I hope I cleared things up through the pm and also through this chapter. If not, please let me know! I want to make sure I am not being too obscure in my hints.

 **Nohm the Inexorable:** I could write you a very long response, but instead, I'm just going to thank you for looking this over before I posted it. It was hard, I know, having to read something you love before everyone else, but thanks for your sacrifice!

 **Lost Child of the Kokiri:** Shhhh, how did you know? Yes, the Shade's going to be a pest every once in a while and when Link things he's finally got a handle on this, dear old Shade throws in another mess for him to have to figure out. XD Shenanigans indeed.

 **Purrloin77:** Thanks for your thoughts! Yes, this is OoT Shade Link. The reason for his eyes though... some people have hit close to it, but let me just write that, with all the things he's seen and witnessed, it is hard for him to no longer see the truth of all matters.

 **Shiekah Ninja:** Ding! You got part of your question right! As for Shadow Link and Fierce Deity, well, it will be a while because I need a reason plot wise to bring them in, BUT there will get here, don't worry. Let's just say, Fierce Deity is already around, he just hasn't quite been found or figured out.

 **Kyrin:** I intend to continue, don't worry ;)

 **Guest:** I am glad you are glad that I updated! I hope this one makes your day!

See you in the next chapter.

 _~Lore_

Rose Co **lore** d Philosophies


	9. In Which the Author Got Lost in the Wild

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. I'm merely using them to entertain myself and others.**

* * *

 **Arctic Wolf**

Chapter 9

 _In Which the Author Got Lost in the Wild_

* * *

The goddesses were _mocking_ her.

Or at least it felt that way. Her existence as of late seemed to be an unending series of sick jokes, and this latest development was just the next step in what was likely divine punishment for some transgression she was not aware of. It all started when Shad, dear sweet, gullible, and socially inept _Shad_ , had the gall to court and marry that farm girl, Ilia, when he _barely even knew her_. Granted, the young woman was sweet, but she took Ashei's only close friend when she married him, and so Ashei could not find it within herself to like her. It wasn't the marriage that had pissed her off; no, she wanted Shad to be happy. It had been the fact that Shad decided to _relocate to Ordon_ that really got her.

She didn't venture that far from the mountain ranges nowadays, and though she heard that the Ordonia province was beautiful, she was often too busy with her own work to head that far away from the mountains for anything other than to update Auru on the state of things. Once she had a day's rest at Telma's, off she'd go to continue her patrols. On occasion the old man would have something special for her, from investigating monster sightings and the possibility of dark magics, to looking into reports of poachers or destructive behavior within the kingdom's lands, and sometimes just to search for a missing person, be they wayward subjects or outlaws on the run.

She was one of the few rangers that traveled all over the mountainous borders of Hyrule, checking in with the other rangers and making sure things were being done _right_ , along with her own separate duties. Although in truth, the nomadic nature of her job stemmed from not being able to get along with almost _any_ of the rangers for more than a few hours time. It wasn't her fault that the knights and former guards of Hyrule were spineless cowards, maybe if they would shape up and grow a backbone she could go more than five minutes in their presence without having to fight the urge to deck them.

The day she found a place where the other locals didn't infuriate her would be the day she _might_ consider taking up a more permanent position. Maybe…

As of yet though, no such luck. The last so-called ranger she'd been stuck around had been a knight of the kingdom, and she managed to last a week before his arrogant, asinine behavior forced her to knock his lights out. Although… sometimes she wondered if perhaps it wasn't so much _him_ as it was _her_. Yes, he had been a pompous fool, but at the same time, Shad had been one of the very few people who could temper her attitude and make her—dare she admit it— _affable_ to some degree. With him gone all the way to Ordon, though, her mood soured even around Auru and Telma to a noticeable degree.

Her presence on Snowpeak was as much of her own choosing as it was a less-than-subtle suggestion from Auru that she needed to get some air and cool off. She'd backhandedly insulted Ilia when the young woman had expressed her hope to find her childhood friend, Link, but Ashei didn't care how rude she'd been. It _had_ been Ilia's fault that the young hero had disappeared, and to only _now_ try to find him because she _missed_ _him_? She should have thought about that _before_ she agreed to Shad's proposal. It was obvious that she was the main reason Link had gone through so much trouble during the crisis, and then to turn around and marry someone else? Who wouldn't want to get away?

But regardless, Auru felt that she had been out of line. And Shad had looked so hurt from her outburst that Ashei couldn't help but try to make it up to _him_ , even if it was technically for Ilia in the end. And so off she'd gone, checking in with the few sparse rangers that were willing to look over the frigid region for signs of Link, eventually to meet up with them to aid in the search. She'd just have to resist the urge to kick the foolish girl into a snowbank in the meantime. And nothing would make her take back her words. Starry-eyed Ilia could not have the world as she wanted it. She already took Shad, so she had no right—in Ashei's opinion—to want her best friend back as well when it was _obvious_ why he left.

Besides, it wasn't like she had anything else to do. This was her life. She wasn't like other women, and she didn't know the first thing about being a _housewife_ , nor did she want to. She'd rather die on a battlefield in glory than live out her days taking care of someone else.

Unfortunately, it seemed the world was all too willing to oblige her with irony and give her neither. Things continued to go downhill as she reached Snowpeak, with no one having heard or seen anything about Link, to a blizzard that seemed to come out of nowhere, getting attacked by a bear, and ending with her bleeding out, shivering with hypothermia, and passing out from blood loss after witnessing a giant white wolf rip the throat of a bear out. As far as endings went, hers was summing up to be downright pathetic.

So she was understandably surprised when she woke up, slightly feverish, but _alive_ and in a warm bed in a cozy, dim room.

Though Ashei had been reasonably confused at the time, it didn't stop her instincts from taking over. She took in her surroundings with the keen observation skills honed over years and years of surviving on her own. Whoever lived here was a builder or tinkerer, but also clearly well versed with weapons. Many tables were dotted around the room, cluttered with tools and half finished projects. A few even held weapons, from bows, quivers, a half-assembled crossbow, and even a few pieces of stray armor that had been haphazardly left around. Some things had even spilled over onto the clearly hand-crafted sofas and chairs, accompanied by discarded books and wayward scrolls worn with use.

A few dressers and wardrobes stood against the walls, and there was even a vanity with a bowl and pitcher meant for washing up in one corner. The other corners seemed dominated by abandoned cushions, pillows, furs, and blankets, as if to make makeshift bedding. As for the bed she was carefully tucked into, it had been clearly layered with care, with the ones directly against her being soft to the touch, while the upper layers were thick and intended to keep in the warmth. Even the pillows were admittedly rather nice, being firm but supple, and not flat as some tended to be when filled with down.

It was definitely someone's home, and seeing as the windows were covered with thick, heavy drapes, and she could hear the wind howling outside, there was no doubt she was still in Snowpeak. Interestingly, there were only windows on one side of the room, suggesting that the house continued on in at least three directions. And from the sheer amount of space, it was probably a sizable location. So the question was _where_?

She could tell that whoever lived here wasn't use to guests, seeing as the furniture normally meant for resting on were piled with things and making them unsuitable for use without first significant effort to clear them. Only a few exceptions could be seen, where the owner clearly spent most of their time when in the room.

As for herself… Ashei pulled off some of the blankets to check where she'd been injured, and was surprised to find herself stripped of her bloodied clothes and her wounds properly cared for. The bandages were tinged pink and yellow from where her wounds were probably still oozing a bit, but it wasn't as bad as she thought they should have been. In fact, by all reason she shouldn't have survived. Which led to the question: _how_ was she still alive?

Despite efforts of the lit fireplace to stave off the cold, the shill in the air drove Ashei to replace the blankets as she fought of a shiver and tried to think of how she ended up _here_ , and where here was.

Well, she _tried_. There was nothing at all between the encounter with the wolf and her waking up here. Unwilling to lay around in ignorance in an unknown location, Ashei was about to get up and search for answers when she heard the footsteps.

Although _footsteps_ was perhaps too soft of a term. Each step was heavy, and as they grew louder, Ashei realized that it was the sound of someone climbing stairs, and growing steadily louder. Two story building, then.

Her gear was nearby—she'd seen it as she checked out the room—but there wasn't enough time to don it before the person arrived. Not to mention that meeting someone unarmed and very much _naked_ was not an appealing idea. No, for now her best bet would be to wait and learn what she could about them first.

With one last longing look at her gear, Ashei quickly tried to arrange the blankets to how they were initially, then laid back, closed her eyes, and feigned sleep.

Only a few moments later the door opened, and she could feel the change in the air as the person walked in. As the steps drew closer to the bed, a low hum gave her her first bit of information: it was a man. He stood there, probably only a few strides away, most likely observing her for a moment before wandering off to another part of the room. From memory she could roughly guess he was headed in the direction of the vanity. Now that she thought about it, it was a rather strange thing to have in a room where he seemingly worked on other projects. In fact…

A sudden realization hit her: this was his room. The mounds in the corners weren't like a makeshift bed, they were a makeshift bed. He had placed her in his bed to recover.

The sound of pouring water pulled Ashei out of her thoughts and to the moment. The vanity had no mirror and faced mostly towards her, meaning he wouldn't be paying her any attention as he washed his face. It was the perfect opportunity to get a look at him and figure out what kind of situation she was in.

Except that he wasn't _just_ washing his face. Ashei's eyes went wide at the sight that greeted her. Oh how _wrong_ she had been in that assumption. Maybe she had been too deep in thought at her realization, or perhaps it had been the heavy sounds of each footfall that unintentionally covered up the other noises, but he was _definitely_ not just washing his face.

He—thank whatever power watched over her—still had his pants securely on, with the upper part of his longjohns slightly sticking out over the top, but she still saw more than she actually wanted to. It wasn't that she hadn't seen a man before. Men of all ages and body types ran around Hyrule and its surrounding territories without shirts on a regular basis. But this man… it felt like an invasion of privacy with what should have been hidden underneath his clothes.

The man was covered in scars. They littered his chest and arms, like some macabre patchwork quilt of skin. Many of them crossed over each other, showing where new wounds had been inflicted upon older ones, but most of them looked to be at a few years old at least. Faded to nothing more than pale stripes in his skin. But some… it looked as if there had been _holes_ in his body. Large patches of discolored skin where something had tried its best to take a chunk out of him. And a few of them, especially one on his hip that peeked out from under his pants, were definitely old burn scars.

It looked as if he'd walked through hell.

And given his physique, he probably could have. His chest was wide, and not like the chubby, barrel-chested soldiers that waddled around Castle Town toting weapons they could barely use, nor like the scrawny ones that boasted about their strength but in the end couldn't hold up in a fight. This man was built like a rock and probably as strong as an ox. If there was fat on his body, she couldn't see it.

And he was tall. Taller than Auru or Rusl, and undeniably taller than her. It had taken her a moment to realize it, too. Everything in the room been built with his height and build in mind, meaning that to her she would probably look like a kid standing next to it.

As much as she hated to admit it, he was built like a warrior _should_ be. And if he wasn't friendly… Ashei didn't want to think about how that would turn out.

Curiously, he wore an odd choker… no, not a choker she realized after a moment of studying it. A _collar_ , like someone would put on a dog. But why? It appeared to be padded in design, perhaps accommodate the fact that a human wore it. The leather was dark, a shade of black perhaps, with something—metal, or some kind of stone?—seemingly plated to the outside. Something about it drew her eye, but she didn't have time to think about it right now. No, right now there were more important issues to deal with. Namely working out what her plan would be.

As her mind raced, the man began pulling off his boots, leaning against a wardrobe as he tried to set his foot down without stepping on a cat she hadn't noticed before. Then it hit her. Ashei filled with dread as she realized what he was about to do next. She _really_ didn't want to see any more of him than she already had. But what could she do? Okay, close her eyes, yes. But she didn't want to be in the same room as a naked man she knew nothing about.

She didn't have any options. She had to give up what little advantage she had. She tried to say something, anything, but words caught in her throat and all that came out was a forced cough. But it was enough.

His head jerked her way at the sound and froze. Was he surprised? Angry? He wasn't moving, but that didn't tell her anything about what kind of situation she was now in. If he turned hostile, it wouldn't end well for her. She needed to do something else.

"Well… I suppose it isn't the worst sight I've woken up to…" _Are you serious? A joke?_ She'd have to roll with it, and hope it worked.

After a moment of silence the man chuckled as a smirk broke out on his face. "Considering what wanders in and out of Telma's, I'm not surprised." He paused, the smirk growing as he seemed to think about something. "That's not _why_ you frequent there, is it?"

Ashei's eyes went wide in shock. How dare he! "Excuse me? No. _Hell_ no. I have standards and they are not low." The man laughed at her words, his posture taking on a more relaxed stance. Ashei let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. So far, so good. "So…"— _Might as well keep it going_ , she reasoned.—"Does this show come with room service, yeah?" _Oh gods, kill me now, it sounds like I'm flirting with him_.

The man grinned, and Ashei got a good look at his eyes finally. They were blue, something she didn't see too often, and seemed kind. "I think something can be arranged, although… I might have to charge you. I think 500 rupees sounds sounds about right, wouldn't you say?"

Ashei sputtered at his price. "A bit steep, yeah? You sure we're talking about the same bed here?" _Keep him going. Just have to keep him going_. She didn't like it, but if nothing else she might be able to get his guard down and figure out if she was in any real danger.

"Let's see. Large, firm, but still soft enough that you sink into it like a hug, covered in cozy blankets with the best pillows I could find? Sound about right?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Still, I'm sure there are more comfortable ones out there somewhere…" _Maybe in the palace?_ "Point is, I'm starving, and at the moment I am woefully under dressed at the moment, yeah? And I'd rather not think about that latter detail, if you understand what I mean."

He laughed again and moved—Ashei tensed at first, until she realized he was heading for a wardrobe—and produced a set of clothes that looked like they were far too large for her. But at the moment she didn't have much of a choice. Pulling the covers tighter as he walked close, the man dropped them on the foot of the bed and turned to leave. "I'll be just outside. Let me know when you're ready and I'll see about that room service."

She waited a moment after the latched closed, and then some more in case he was going to come back in. Once she was satisfied he wasn't about to barge in, she quickly climbed out of the bed and grabbed the clothes.

They were _huge_ on her. Fortunately he seemed to have the foresight in this and had grabbed a pair of shorts instead of pants, although she had to use a belt from her gear to keep them on. Someone like Shad would swimming in them—she definitely was.

And the shirt. It might as well have been a dress, really. Although a short one. The long sleeves went clear past her hands and made her look like a child. Fortunately the neck was still narrow enough that it stayed on her without much trouble.

She thought about calling out to him, but hesitated. She still didn't know who he was. He may have been nice so far, but that didn't mean anything. There were too many instances of people in the past who acted nice and caught their prey unaware. She wasn't about to be one of them. Rummaging through her gear, Ashei was relieved to find that all of her weapons were present. A sword would be too obvious, but the knives would do. With a bit of leather from one of the tables, she quickly tied the sheath to the forearm. The sleeves hid them perfectly.

With a few shakes to ensure they wouldn't come loose, Ashei steeled herself for whatever was to come. Taking one last breath, she faced the door with confidence. "Okay."

She hadn't asked his name. How _stupid_ of her. And then there was his comment earlier. She hadn't really thought of it at the time, but now, as she followed the stranger through the house—which was now beginning to look awfully like a manor—she realized something important.

He _knew_ about Telma's. She was sure she hadn't met this man before. True, her memory was not flawless, but someone like this would have been pounced on by Auru the moment he stepped in the door… if Telma didn't get to him first.

As they reached a door on what she assumed was the bottom floor, the man paused and seemed hesitant. After a moment and looked at her and grinned sheepishly. "Wait here a moment, okay? I need to… check on something. I'll be right back."

"Wait a moment!" The words had left her mouth before she realized what she was doing, but it was too late to back out now. He had his hand on the door but was looking at her expectantly. "What is your name? You never told me."

He twitched at that. Was he hiding something? He smiled, but it looked forced. After a few seconds of silence he finally answered. "You can call me… Fado." She didn't recognize it, but before she could question his hesitation he ducked through the door with a "Wait here."

And she waited. But on her terms. She took the opportunity to check out the hall, trying to get a gauge on the building and the mysterious Fado. It looked _old_. But there were signs of repairs that were likely of his own doing. An inheritance, maybe? A part of her wanted to flee immediately, but she still had no idea where she was on Snowpeak, and by the time she had her gear on he'd probably already know and be after her. Besides, she _needed_ to eat, and she could smell something good on the other side of the door.

A few minutes later Fado returned looking… relieved? He made a noticeable effort to close the door behind him without letting her see inside. With his back to the door, he smile at her and said, "Okay, so food has been arranged for. But I need you to do something for me. When you go in there, you are going to meet someone named Yeta. She's… kind and caring, so don't be alarmed. I don't think you'll have too much of a problem but… I want you to be ready."

Okay, _that_ did not inspire confidence in her. But her stomach was growling, and at this point she didn't care if it was a monkey on the other side of the door, so long as she got fed. Except… "Are you not joining me?"

He glanced back in the direction of his room, then at down at himself, and grinned at her. "You're not the only one who prefers clothing, you know. I have a few things to take care of, so no. Not right now. But rest assured, Yeta will take good care of you. Now, if you'll excuse me…?"

With an eyebrow arched questionably at him, Ashei nodded, stepped to the side, and watched as the man took off back towards his room. Maybe he wasn't a threat? He didn't strike her as one, but his actions were far too suspicious for her likings. Once he was out of sight, Ashei pushed open the door and stepped through to the smell of waiting food.

"Little human better, uh! Come, eat!"

 _Ah_. Now she understood the warning…

* * *

A/N:You know what? Forget my vow of weekly, it just killed my muse... or did the fact that Breath of the Wild coming out do that? Well, anyways, I have returned (sort of) with a new chapter (of which was pretty much heavily co-written by my pre-reader) filled with all that awkwardness I cliff hung you all on. On a side note **(Spoilers of some level children, look away if you need to)** I beat Breath of the Wild... and I may have caught the easter egg horse that Ganondorf once rode in Ocarina of Time... and _named_ it... um... okay, I didn't know it was an easter egg of Ganondorf's horse, so, it being huge, black, with an orange mane... I confess I named it Ganondorf... And guess what, I beat the final form of the boss on the back of Ganondorf. IRONY ABOUNDS because that was never my intention XD. **(Spoilers over).** Beautiful game. Wonderful game. WHY DID IT HAVE TO FALL INTO THE CHILD TIMELINE?! Ugh. Nintendo has released its place in the timeline, luckily because people were going rabid over it. I will try to make it work, but I personally liked it in the Great Sea timeline. Okay. Enough rambling. I have played the game and if any of you would like details about the game for stories, private message me, I would be happy to help you as much as I can.

A special thanks to **_Nohm the Inexorable_** for pre-reading the chapter (and co-writing a large portion of my messy draft of this chapter) and saving me from his critics _after_ I posted! That and he just made everything flow better. He may eventually post a off shoot of some of the aspects I've written about in this chapter. I personally would not be upset if he does because its just comedy gold!

So, for those that wrote me a wonderful, muse-filling review:

 **ChangelingRin:** I don't even know how hot off the press this chapter was, but you reviewed first! I really thought Nohm would beat you all, but nope, Rin for the surprise win! Also, yes, you got it. Navi. I might as well say it now because so many people reviewed just to tell me 'OMG NAVI'. As awkward as this has been for Link, I assure you, Ashei had a hard time with it too, as you can see! XD

 **niacdoial:** Thank you so much for your review, I am glad that you liked as she tried to stomp. I hope you enjoyed this one as well!

 **Nohm the Inexorable:** Haha, in my defense, it didn't take a month this time... almost, but not quite there. And that's all I will say because I think you and I already know everything else there is to say about the rest of your review. XD

 **Lost Child of the Kokiri:** Thank you very much! And you're not dumb for not figuring it out. I was being rather obtuse with the details, but sometimes things like that fly over my own head easily as well. I also feel bad about breaking Yeto's pots. That's why last play through I only broke the one with Ooccoo in it! XD

 **Purrloin77:** ...Hmmm~? Darn it. I thought I was being clever. You got it. But you will have to wait to rejoice in your rightness until way later when the plot brings said person into this whole mess with the rest of them XD

 **FoxsoulRedux:** Ding ding ding~ Navi indeed. I think I might actually acknowledge her name in the next one, so many of you got it!

 **Luzi22:** Thank you so much! I am really glad that the Yetis are everyone's favorites part. I really was unsure as to what people would think of them and how much I used them, but it seems like people really like my vision of them~!

 **Glaceon Mage** : I did use the opening lines of OoT just because I wanted to make it as obvious as I could get and see if people would catch on to the fact that its nearly a direct quote. As for the typo, I will try to get around to fixing it as soon as I can, thanks for pointing it out!

 **Endsong:** Lol, yes, Navi. And yes, as you can see, he pretty much did. Next one won't be free thought ;P

 **2ndUzukage:** I will check into those oopsies, but I hear that Fanfiction does that itself from time to time. But I will double check any mistakes at a later date. Thank you so much for enjoying my work though! I love character development and I find myself focusing more on the characters than I do plot development, which is why I decided to just write about AFTER the crisis is over and not write an actual story with a crisis involved. If anything, I hope to strengthen the sight people have on the characters. Also, yes, the more I write, the better I become at writing. Most of my skills are self taught and I have built myself up from a rather shameful level from when I first began in 5ht grade. I was not adept at first, but with practice comes mastery.

 **Namesake:** Thank you always for your kind words. Every bit of encouragement helps feed my muse and my surprisingly poor self-esteem. This whole story has fed me more reviews and boosted my esteem which was nearly shot by the point that I had begun to write it. I hope not to let you all down. As you can read, she doesn't recognize him and he's going to misuse that :D It'd be boring if she just recognizes someone she's met a handful of times when he's changed so vastly. Yes, poor, poor Navi. We hardly knew the new you, except that you were chatty and then Link goes and sacrifices you to Yeta XD.

 **ARSLOTHES:** I hope this was hilarious enough for you XD

 **To all my Guests:** Lazy, I know, but you all pretty much can be conglomerated into one. I hope you don't find it rude, but if you don't like it, please, give me a name to address you as. Yes, it is Navi! And thank you so much for loving my story! And I am glad you all like the hints I pepper throughout my story~!

See you in the next chapter.

 _~Lore_

Rose Co **lore** d Philosophies


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